More Beneath His Eyes
by Starburst22
Summary: Why can Raf understand Bumblebee, while the others cannot? How come a 12 year old can hack into top security systems? What if there is more to Rafael Esquival than meets the eye... T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! Well, this is going to be my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic. We shall see how I do. Enjoy! Oh, I don't really have a set time-period in between episodes where this takes place, but June Darby knows about the Transformers.**

_italics = Bumblebee talking_

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic, except for any possible OC's that may appear, which I will identify; please do not use them without my permission….**

"…And I expect a full report by the end of summer on scientists throughout the ages!" yelled Rafael's science teacher, while her students hurried out of the classroom as "freedom's bell" – which is what the kids in the school liked to call it- rang throughout the building, signaling school's end.

Raf packed his school books into his backpack as quickly as he could without misplacing anything, so that he wouldn't keep his Autobot guardian and friend and Bumblebee waiting for too long outside.

After he zipped his bag, he jogged out to the front of the school, dodging groups of people chatting with their friends, to where he knew 'Bee parked while waiting for him.

"Yo, Raf!" called Raf's ever adventurous friend Miko, waving to him over to her guardian, Bulkhead. "You ready to hang with the 'Bots all summer long?" she said a little bit quieter so no overeager ears would hear.

"You bet!" he replied enthusiastically. "Maybe I can get Ratchet to help me with my science report, and 'Bee with my..."

"Pfffft, you're actually going to do _homework_ during summer vacation? _I _am going to rock out all summer long, _without _doing a single sheet of homework!" she exclaimed proudly, with her head held high.

"I just wish we could change your mind," said a new voice, this one belonging to their friend Jack. "Seeing you so irresponsible makes me feel all worried."

With a falsely surprised gasp, Miko said, "Don't tell me, Jackson Darby is actually worried for little ole me?"

Blushing a little, he sheepishly replied, "Well, I… uh… of course I am… sorta."

Snorting and rolling her eyes, she said, "Right, well, see you both at base!" she ended the conversation and hopped into the open passenger door of Bulkhead.

Sighing and shaking his head, Jack asked, "Will she ever learn?"

"You know Miko, Jack," said Raf, "She is untamable."

With a shrug, Jack hopped onto Arcee, his friend, guardian, and motorcycle and sped off toward the hidden base of the Autobot's.

As soon as he was out of sight, Raf walked up to Bumblebee on the passenger side and got in while Bumblebee started to drive off.

"_Hello, Raf," _he cheerfully greeted. "_How was school?"_

"Great!" Raf replied. "I am kinda glad it's over though."

"_Why? Don't you enjoy your classes?" '_Bee asked curiously.

"Of course! It's not that I don't like school, it's just that I now get to spend far more time with you and the others, because it's summer break."

"_Oh, I understand now, but what do you plan on doing, during this 'summer break'?"_

"Well," Raf explained, "We could build model cars, we could race, and maybe, if Optimus will let us, we could bridge on over to the beach in California!

"_What do you do at a 'beach'?" _Bumblebee beeped.

"Well, a beach is a long shore of sand right next to the ocean water, and some common things people will do at beaches is surf and play volleyball at cook-outs, but there are many other things to do there."

"_That sounds interesting! I will try and ask Optimus if we could go to this 'beach'."_

"Really! Thanks, Bumblebee!" and with that they had ended their conversation as they pulled into base.

As soon as Raf was out, 'Bee transformed and walked on over to join Bulkhead and Arcee, who were chatting with each other while Jack was losing to Miko in a video game race.

"_Hey guys," _ 'Bee beeped while waving his servo. "_What do you guys plan on doing with your kids during their summer vacation?"_ he asked.

"Miko said she wanted to go to some rock concerts, ride some desert dunes, and watch us bust up the 'Cons, which I plan to make_ last_ if not-at-all on our activities list," said Bulkhead, with a warning look towards Miko at his last statement.

"Jack said he doesn't really have any plans, he just wants to 'hang out'," said Arcee, with a shrug of her shoulderplates.

"_Hmm, well Raf said he really wanted to go to this place called a 'beach,' so I was going to ask Optimus if he was ok with that." _

"Why do you need to ask Optimus?" Bulkhead questioned.

"_Because he would need to use the ground bridge to get there,"_ answered 'Bee, and with that he went to find Optimus.

After some time of searching, 'Bee discovered that Optimus was talking to Ratchet about their energon shortage in the repair bay.

"…But until we find some more energon, we can afford to…"

"_Umm… excuse me? Optimus Prime, sir?"_ Bumblebee politely interrupted.

"You may continue," Optimus acknowledged with a nod of his helm.

"_Well, Raf wanted me to ask you, sir, if it would be all right to allow the children to use the ground bridge to go to this location called a 'beach,' he assured me that it is safe; he said that most humans have fun activities there, and…"_

"Bumblebee," Optimus' commanding voice stopped Bumblebee's babbling from escalating. "If Ratchet is fine with bridging them there, and their creators are acceptant of the idea, then I give my permission for them to use the Ground Bridge."

"I have a better idea," Ratchet announced, "Why don't you take them camping on the beach for say… a week or so, that way I can get some work done around here…"

"An excellent idea, Ratchet," said Optimus, nodding his approval of Ratchet's suggestion, then turned to 'Bee and said, "You have my permission to use the ground bridge for your trip, but we will bridge you back if any problems arise," and with that, he went back to his conversation with Ratchet, while Bumblebee went to share the news with the others.

…..

"…_So are we good, or what?" _ Bumblebee asked Arcee and Bulkhead.

"I bet Miko will love this! I'm totally in!" said Bulkhead, fist-pumping the air.

"If Jack is fine with it; I guess we could use a little mental break from the war…" said Arcee rubbing her forehelm with her servo.

"_Great! Let's ask them!"_ 'Bee beeped enthusiastically , then jogged over to the human area, where Miko was still kicking Jack's butt at the racing game, while Raf cheered his friend's on.

"_Raf, Raf, Raf!" _'Bee beeped frantically.

"Wow, slow down 'Bee, and speak slowly so I can understand you," Raf said while holding up his hands in the "slow down" position.

Venting deeply, Bumblebee beeped again, but slower this time, "_Raf, Optimus_ _ gave us permission to use the ground bridge to go to the beach AND actually camp-out for a week!"_

"That's awesome, 'Bee! Hey, guys," Raf then turned to talk to his human friends, "If our folks are ok with it, we can camp out on the beach for a week!"

"Uhh, Raf, in case you haven't noticed, there is no body of water around here for miles, where would we go? asked Jack.

"We can bridge to the beach in California, unless you all would like to go somewhere else…"

"Nah, California's cool for me, let's get packing!" Miko exclaimed, then ran to Bulkhead to go home to pack.

Jack, Arcee, Rafael, and Bumblebee were not far behind.

"Primus, please let their creators say 'yes'." Ratchet prayed, then turned back to his work on the moniter…

**A/N: Well, that's the first chapter so far, I know there's not much action in it yet, but that's what make a story so great, yet so slagging annoying, is the suspense…I will try and update fast because I hate suspense too :P, although nothing interesting has happened yet so there is not really much suspense… maybe. Anyway, please review, it fills me with pride and happiness I never knew I had**… **seriously, it's kinda creepin' me out… but I still love it! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I have decided to try and get this chapter up tonight, because I have nothing better to do, and school starts tomorrow for me. :/ So this might be awesome action, might not… we shall all see…. P.S. I honestly don't know if La Jolla Shores has a camping site, but let's just pretend, let's also pretend that there is an actually not-too-populated spot by La Jolla Shores . And I do not own La Jolla Shores… God gave it to the government, who in turn lets us use it…I think :P **

_Italics= _Bumblebee speaking

-_italics-= _com. speaking

It was about 7:00am the next morning when Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee rolled into base with their human charges.

The kids hopped out (or in Jack's case, off) of their respective rides, with Raf bringing out some equipment unknown to the 'Bots.

"What's all that stuff you've got with you?" Arcee asked, pointing to the pile of beach-camping stuff Raf was pulling out of Bumblebee's back seat to show the curious 'Bots.

"Well, this is the stuff my family used to use when we went camping on the beach in southern California, this here is a…"

"Wait, you used to live in California?" Miko asked.

With a sigh, Rafael replied, "Yes, Miko, I used to live in California; anyway, Arcee, these things here are called boogie-boards, which we use to body surf on the waves, this is a beachball, a volleyball, and a frisbee for playing sports. And over here is some camping stuff mom gave to us to use."

He walked on over to the tent bag which contained a large size tent, perfect for three teens/tweens.

"She also gave me stuff like sunscreen, baby powder(1), bug spray, and other stuff like that."

"Hey, uhh… Raf?" Jack asked, "You don't happen to have any spare swim suits for Miko and I, do you? 'Cause I don't think Miko has one, and I definatly don't…"

"I thought that you might not, so I just asked my brother and sister to lend me theirs," and he handed Jack a pair of dark blue trunks with a light blue Hawaiian flower design, and a long sleeve black rash guard, while he gave Miko a purple tankini with magenta flowers, with a matching colored rash guard and board shorts.

"Thanks, Raf!" Miko said, holding the suit up to herself to admire it.

"Ya, thanks, you always think of everything," Jack added, making Raf blush slightly with an "Ahhh, it was nothin'" kind of look on his face.

"If, you're all set to go," Ratchet said from by the computer terminal, "I am going to bridge you to a less populated location of the beach, so you three," he said pointing to the three 'Bots, "Won't be seen."

"I'm ready to party! Is anyone else?" Miko exclaimed, obviously desiring to get going.

"You ready, Jack?" Raf asked.

"I'm ready, how about you?" he turned to ask the 'Bots whom were coming with them.

"Locked and loaded," Bulkhead said.

"Ready when you are," Arcee acknowledged.

"_I'm set,"_ Bumblebee beeped with a "thumbs up" gesture.

"Very well," Ratchet said as he activated the bridge, "And remember, if there is any reason you must come back, I'll comm. You."

With various "See ya, Ratch," "Later doc-bot," and "Try not to miss us_ too_ much," the three 'Bots and three humans entered the portal, disappearing from site.

"Thank Primus, they're finally gone," and with that he went to get some work done.

…..

The first thing that everyone noticed about the area they bridged to, was that is was like nothing they had seen before.

They were standing near a rocky ledge, where the wind gently tickled their nerves and sensors, where various types of sea creatures and birds were frolicking about, and far to the right, many humans played among the sparkling waves, and the grainy sand.

And, perhaps the most beautiful, was the way the sun shone across the water, as it started to rise in the distance.

"This is….wow," Jack said, finally breaking the tranquility.

"Yah, no matter how many time's we came here, it still takes your breath away, but you should see the sunsets," Raf said, "_Those,_ if someone were to paint it, would be worth far more than I could even imagine."

"Well, we should probably start setting up camp, what do you say?" Arcee asked the kids.

"That would probably be a good idea," Jack said, while Raf nodded his head in agreement, and Miko started to pout.

"Let's split into groups; Bumblebee and I will start with the tent, Miko and Bulkhead can get the other camping stuff set up, and Jack and Arcee can get the food, " Raf instructed, and they all began to do their respective jobs.

…

After about about 2 hours, everything was set up on the beach on the left side of the ridge, where they would less likely be spotted by curious eyes the kids had changed into their suits and were ready to play with their 'Bots.

"Soooo, what should we do first?" Miko asked Raf.

"I think we should play some volleyball or Frisbee first, so the sand doesn't stick to our skin, or armor, in your case," he said to his friends.

"Ok! Bulk', you want to play volleyball with Jack and Arcee?" Miko asked her partner.

"Sure, why not," he replied with a shrug.

"You're going down," Miko bragged to Jack.

"Hmff… bring it," he challenged, and so their game began.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee and Raf decided to play some Frisbee a little ways away from the others, by the swaying palms.

Little did they know they were being watched from among the trees….

…..

After a full day of playing sports in the sand, they all sat down to have their meals.

The Autobots had their energon, while the kids cooked hot dogs on the mini-grill Raf's dad gave them to borrow for their trip. Raf finished his food first so he said

Raf finished his food first so he said,"Hey, guys, I think I am going to go on up to the ridge to have a look out across the water, and see the sun set."

"Ok, we'll see you in a bit, just don't hurt yourself," Jack warned, ever the responsible one.

"Don't worry, I will," and so he started to climb up the trail of stairs toward the back of the ledge, watching where he stepped carefully, because the it could be fatal if one were to fall from that high up.

After almost 15 minutes, he finally reached the top, and when he looked out across the water, he was awestruck.

Beautiful mixes of yellows and oranges, blues and purples, pinks and whites, all swirled together forming a picture any artist could only dream of creating filled the sky.

And that wasn't all.

The sun seemed almost like a bright, orange mountain in the distance, with the waves flowing across its yellow shores; and the waves themselves seemed almost the purest blue he had ever seen.

The palm trees mixed among other, less fancy trees, along with the cool, gentle wind blowing through his hair, completed the scene.

If only he had brought his camera.

A rustling noise coming from among the trees behind him brought him out of his trance, and he curiously yet cautiously advanced toward the sound.

He soon found himself deep among the trees, but he couldn't find who or what was causing the noise.

As the saying goes, "curiosity killed the cat" go's, Raf soon became lost in the now not-so- pretty trees from his curious wandering.

Then, just as he was starting to panic, he saw the leaves of the trees move from up ahead, and cautiously investigated the sudden movement.

As he parted the branches, he found himself in a circular clearing from the trees. He advanced un-frightened, since the area was wide and open, and, when close to middle of the clearing, he heard something that sounded something like a whirring of engines, and searched frantically for any Decepticons, but found none.

Slightly relieved, he continued walking when, from the brush behind him, a huge, metallic creature that looked like a bird shot out and, before he could even scream let alone run, snatched him in its tentacles and sped off toward the starry sky above…..

…

Back at the camp, it had been 45 minutes since Raf left, and 'Bee was starting to get worried for his friend.

"It's alright, 'Bee, I'm sure he's just exploring the scenery from up above, the stars are quite beautiful," Arcee reassured, but Bumblebee was still worried.

"_Well, even if he is just looking at the scenery, it won't hurt to make sure,"_ he said.

"Alright," Arcee relented, "But be careful, and make sure you are not seen by any humans."

So Bumblebee was off, and scaled the ridge in less than 5 minutes, for he was far bigger than Rafael.

When he reached the top, he tried to see if his friend was there, but found no sight of him.

Getting far more worried, he spun around trying to find some clue as to where Raf was.

He found the broken branches that were the path that Rafael had taken.

In a few moments, Bumblebee came to the clearing where Raf had been, and looking up, just saw Lazorbeak disappear into the clouds… with Raf trailing beneath him.

…..

**A/N: I swear I wasn't going to leave it here, but I suppose it's fine for now (Mom just said I had to stop and save and go to bed, blahhh ) And, La Jolla Shores is not really **_**that**_** pretty, and I don't even know if there is a left side to it, but there is that huge ledge!**

**Fun Fact- Baby Powder helps get sand off of skin, who knew?**

**Oh, and Happy New Year! Starburst**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: First, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews, it really inspires me to keep writing, and second, things should start to get more interesting in this chapter, so keep a look out! ;) Enjoy!**

_Italics=_ Bumblebee speaking/ Lazorbeak speaking

-_italics- =_ comm. speaking

"-_Optimus!-_"Bumblebee shouted across the open comm. System. "_-That lousy bird-brain Decepticon snatched Raf!-"_

"_-What!-" _almost everyone shouted at the same time.

Constant chatter rallied back on forth on the frequency about this piece of news, until Optimus Prime's voice silenced the chaos.

"_-Enough! Ratchet, bridge the remaining children and their guardians to base, Bumblebee, see if you can find the location of the Decepticon warship, we will need the coordinates in order to find Rafael,-" _and with thatthe comms were off, and the Autobots told their charges the change of events.

"What! The 'Cons have Raf?" Miko and Jack said simultaneously.

"If they do anything to him, I'm gonna…"

"Leave it to us," Bulkhead interrupted, "We don't need the rest of you getting abducted as well."

"He's right, Miko," Jack comforted, "If they have Raf, they might as well come after us, too."

So they packed the stuff as quickly as they could, and hurried through the open ground bridge.

"And I didn't even get to boogie-board," Miko pouted, with a last look at the raging waters beyond…

….

After the initial shock of being taken from the ground to the sky unexpectedly wore off, Raf started to panic, which also led to a bit of protesting.

"Let me go! What do want with me? I have nothing that you want!"

"_Ahhh, you misunderstand, we do not want anything you possess, only you," _said a soothing voice that sounded as though it came from inside his head, except that was impossible…right?

"Did you just…talk?" he asked, fear momentarily forgotten, by a more twisted version of curiousity.

He received no verbal (or mental) answer, but the huge bird increased his speed slightly, which confused Raf even more.

'This is getting really weird…' he thought, and hoped that the Decepticon couldn't read his mind.

….

A purple mech with a screen faceplate stood aboard the flight deck of the _Nemesis_, the Decepticons warship, apparently waiting for something.

Or just enjoying the view of the scenic mountains far below, it was quite hard to tell with his expressionless face, but it was not like this mech to do something without a purpose.

He broke his seemingful trance as a soft whirring noise toward his left filled his audio receptors.

Suddenly, a huge metallic bird shot into view, holding something below as if it was a sacred treasure.

As the bird dropped his 'package' low to the ground so as not to harm it much, it transformed into the chest plating of the larger mech, latching into place.

The thing the bird dropped started to scurry away fearfully, without taking its eyes of the Decepticon, but didn't make it far as a few tentacles reached out and grapped the boy gently around the waist.

"Soundwave," Raf whispered fearfully.

Soundwave played an audio clip from either a movie or TV show that whispered in awe, "You know my name?"

Raf nodded fearfully and started to try to find a possible way out of his predicament.

But suddenly, Soundwave turned around and marched back into the ship, towards his quarters.

He made certain he wasn't seen, which Raf found odd, didn't they want him for bait or as a slave or what?

His eyes widened as he thought of something, maybe, Megatron had agreed to let Soundwave to take a human to do what he pleased with it, as long as it assisted their cause in some way.

Raf gulped at that thought, for that was the most likely.

When they finally reached what Raf assumed was Soundwave's quarters, he braced himself for a energon barred cage, being roughly thrown inside, starved, and used as a slave...so he was a little surprised to just see what appeared to be a berth and a desk along with hundreds of computers, which showed pictures of almost every nook and cranny in the Decepticon warship in his otherwise empty quarters.

Soundwave set him down on the desk, and turned his helm toward the direction of a dark shadow by the berth legs, then jerked it in a "come on out" kind of motion.

A very small mech with red and black paint job with a red visor hiding his optics slowly emerged from the shadows, looking anxious, as though waiting for a long lost friend finally returning.

"Is… is it… really… him?" the little mech asked Soundwave, his visor glinting with hope.

'I don't know, captain, but I think so,' a feminine voice played from his faceplate. 'We must perform the experiment!' another, more insane sounding scientist clip played, and Soundwave proceeded to bring up his computer moniter, when a secret, military base file popped up, transmitting many different "unauthorized access" messages when Soundwave seemingly attempted to hack the secure files.

He looked at Raf, then pointed toward the screen with the messages and backed away from the monitor.

"Y…You… want me… to hack into that?" he asked, pointing toward the screen. He didn't really want to endanger any humans, but he also didn't want to die himself.

Soudwave nodded in response.

Raf went over to the monitors, searching for a keyboard, when he found a holographic –looking screen, with multiple buttons on it.

Raf gulped, and started to try and appear as though he knew what he doing (which in the back of his mind, he did), while guessing at what all of these weird symbols on the keyboard meant.

To his surprise, he was able to get past the firewalls and into their network, but what really shocked him was that instead of searching for information as thought Soundwave would do, he instead just shut down the monitor, and walked on over to a drawer near his berth.

He pulled out a data-pad and set it down next to Raf, since it was far larger than him, and touched a button on it with the tip of his claw, and various whirs and shrill sounds filled the room.

"R…Raf, Rafael," he answered the Cybertronian question in English.

Another set of whirs and clicks…

"I…I'm 12… and a quarter," he again answered.

This Q&A game continued on until the last question was asked in Cybertronian by the red and black 'Con.

'Do you know who I am?' he asked.

"No," Raf answered without thinking.

The red and black robot's posture sagged greatly when Raf said that.

"Although…" Raf said, deeply studying the little bot, "I feel like I've met you before."

That was all they needed, the little bot scooped up Raf in a big bear hug, careful not to hurt him, and started clicking in happiness.

Raf was so shocked that the last thing he heard, was the most famous quote in Star Wars history, coming from Soundwave….

"I am your father…."

Raf promptly blacked out.

**A/N: Oh, snap! Didn't see that one comin' did ya? So now we know why Soundwave wanted him. Well, I am going to try and get the next chappie up soon, which should contain some of Raf's history, 'cause right now, you're all wonderin' 'how is he Soundwaves son, if he's a human?' No need to fear, all will be revealed… ta-ta for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: … Wow…. I am at a loss for words on how grateful I am for the reviews, alerts, and favs! Thank you all sooo much! This chapter is waaaay longer, so please let me know if it's too long. This is also turning into an AU (at least I think that's what it's called), because I am completely changing how the war started, soooo… I think that's it, onward to the story! **

**Disclaimer: Since I haven't done this for a few chapters, I do not own any of the characters in this fic, I only own the OC's which you will notice when you see them, and please don't use them without my permission… **

**Warning: Beware of fluffiness… probably bad written and cliché fluffiness, but still fluffiness…**

_Italics= flashback/past events_

_Before the Great Wars, Cybertron was a peaceful planet, teaming with sentient, robotic organisms. A planet free of bias; where Seekers, Triple-Changers, and every other kind of Cybertronian lived in peace with one another, and were free to choose the direction they wanted to live their lives. They were not created like the drones that came from the Allspark(1), they were born, originally created by Primus, who gave them the ability to recreate themselves. He also gave them the ability to love, hate, envy, grieve, and have every other kind of emotion known to the universe. And it was the first listed that changed the lives of two particular Cybertronians forever…._

…_.._

_In the heart of Iacon – the capital of all of Cybertron- there are many important facilities that run the systems of Cybertron. From producing holovids to powering entire grid networks, from stores selling energon treats to massive malls filled with all kinds of wonderful things, one could find almost anything their spark desired here. _

_So it shouldn't be surprising that it also had the top monitor maintenance service stores in all of Cybertron, which is where Sondwave currently worked as one of the mechs who went to go to the residence of the bot who's problem could not be fixed over the comm. Link system._

"_Soundwave!" a tall, well built mech with a red and orange paint job and yellow optics called as he walked over to Soundwave's station with a datapad._

"_What is it, Blaster?" Soundwave, a tall, scrawny mech with a purple paint job and almost black optics asked as he swiveled his chair around to meet his friend's optics._

"_We got a comm. in from a femme on the outskirts of Iacon; said she think she has a bad bug on her monitor system; keeps on flashing up with error codes every time she tries to send a message to a different server..."_

"_And I suppose the problem wasn't able to be solved over the comm. System, yes?" he asked, crossing his arms and slinging his pede over his knee joint._

"_Nooo, I just came to tell you that she thinks you're the most dashing mech on the face of Cybertron, and wants you to meet her; of course it wasn't fixable over the comm.!" he exclaimed, throwing up his arms in false exasperation._

"_Ok, are going to play actor all day or give me the coordinates?" he asked, holding out his servo for the datapad his friend was holding._

_Blaster handed him the datapad, and with a cheery, "See ya when you're back, mech!" left to go back to his station, which was a little ways down._

_Soundwave waved goodbye to his friend, and packed the basic things he might need for a monitor system repair into his subspace. He then walked out of the building, transformed, and soared through the airways of Cybertron toward the coordinates indicated on the datapad._

_It took him a little longer than he thought to find the femme's place, for she lived in a small apartment complex less than 5 mecameters from the western border of Iacon, and the airways were quite busy at this time of the cycle._

_He transformed at the main entrance of the building and walked inside and up to the fifth floor, all the way to the last door on the left, where the coordinates that were on his datapad led to._

_He pressed a button on the keypad which made a loud 'ping' in the other side of the room._

"_Coming!" a feminine voice called on the other side._

_When she opened the door, the first thing Soundwave noticed about this femme, was that she was beautiful… veeeery beautiful. _

_She had a helicopter alt-mode, if the sharp, thin rotors on her back were anything to go by, and had a slender figure, with a pair of ariel fins on her helm pointing slightly up and back. She also had a light blue with dark blue and silver highlights, and the prettiest shade of silver optics he had ever seen._

_He quickly snapped out of his trance and introduced himself, "Hello, ma'am, my name is Soundwave; I was sent to your place to fix a problem with your monitor system."_

"_Oh! Well, right this way then! By the way, please call me Rotary Blades, or just Blades for short, I prefer that to 'ma'am' or 'miss'," she said with a smile as she led him toward her monitor, which still had error messages all over the screen._

"_I spoke with a mech named Blaster over the comm., but we weren't able to fix the problem; he said he would send their best systems maintenance mech out to me," she said, which caused Soundwave to go a bright shade of pink on his cheekplates._

"_Well, I am pretty good, but I'm not __**that**__ good," he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his helm, "But the point is that we get your monitor fixed," he added, trying to submerge this weird feeling in the pit of his tanks that had come up when she unintentionally complimented him._

_He set to work by first doing a routine systems check on the monitor with his datapad, which would look for any viruses or general problems throughout the whole network system of said monitor and any others linked to it._

"_Do you have any other monitors with this problem, ma'- er… Rotary Blades?" he turned to look at her while his pad was running the diagnostics._

"_Nope, this is the only monitor I have," she replied._

_He nodded his helm then turned back to the datapad, which had completed its scan. As he scrolled down through the results, it pinged repeatedly when he reached the section that dealt with sharing data with other servers._

"_Hmm…" Soundwave hummed, holding his chin with his servotips in deep thought._

"_What is it? Did you find something?" Blades asked, walking over next to Soundwave, she bent down so that her faceplate was close to his, observing the screen of his datapad._

_Soundwave's spark jumped from the close proximity, but on the outside his professional air remained._

"_It seems as though your network has been infected with a virus that is not easily purged; I could try to see if I can remove it with the equipment I have, but that is highly unlikely, it would have to be brought in so we could use our specialty virus removing equipment," he explained to her, all the while attempting to purge the bug with the tech he had brought with him, and failing._

_He paused for a moment to study the schematics, and noticed something he hadn't before. It was just a simple wire that didn't appear to be put in properly, but with technology, every small detail counts._

_He set his datapad down and proceeded to crawl under her desk to where the wires lay hidden beneath metal slab._

"_What are you doing?" Blades asked curiously, moving her helm around to try to get a better view of what Soundwave was doing._

"_I believe that your monitor may not have a virus after all, but merely a twisted wire transmitting frequencies that block proper use and appear as viruses on network scans," he explained while he fixed the wire in question._

"_There!" he exclaimed, "Now try and see if you can send your messages," he instructed, and while he crawled back out she sat on her desk chair and attempted to send the message which was previously denied._

"_It worked!" she exclaimed, "Oh, thank you so much! How much do I owe you?" she asked as she unsubspaced a transaction datapad._

"_35 credits for time and services ma'-Rotary Blades," he said, catching his almost slip-up._

_She chuckled while she made the digital check, "Still really want to call me 'ma'am', don't ya? she asked, then completely changing the subject said, "You know, I've had other mechs from your place come over for the same problem and say I had to take it in, but you were able to figure it out without even unplugging anything, you're really good."_

_He blushed profusely at her praise, and to his horror she noticed. _

"_I…uh well…I…umm… thank you, yes thank you," he stuttered, and mentally slapped himself for such a lame way to avoid humility._

'_Soundwave,' his positive/you're the best mech for love side of himself said, 'You should ask and see if maybe she would like to call you later, give her your comm., be smooth…,' while the negative/you're too lame for love side said, 'Mech, you don't have a chance, you were just supposed to do a job for her, not make her your femmefriend, you don't even have bulk…"_

_While he was mentally debating with himself over (in his opinion) the most important decision of his life, Rotary Blades had written the check, placed it in his absent-mindedly open servo, then decided she should give him a quick but tight hug before he left._

_He could have sworn his spark quick pulsating for a click._

_His mental debate over, he mustered up every mechagram of courage in his systems, and asked in a quick rush the question that he had finally decided to voice, "Would-you-like-to-spend-the-night-out-in-the-city-with-me?"_

"_I'm sorry, what did you just say?" she looked at him with those adorable optics, and he said more slowly this time, "Would you like to go for a walk, or stroll, in the park with me? That is, of course if you're single, and…" before he broke out into a full babble, she answered, "I would love to go! When did you have in mind?"_

_He hadn't actually thought about that, he was preparing himself for rejection, so he quickly thought of a place and time he was available._

"_How about tonight at the time the sun sets, and we can just walk through the Crystal Gardens?" he suggested, hoping she said 'yes'. _

"_That sounds great to me! Let's meet at my place, I don't have any plans for tonight anyway, and, may I have your comm.? I can give you mine too, if you want it, that we can ping each other when we're there," she shyly asked, waving her servos around in wild gestures due to nervousness._

"_O-Of course," he nervously replied, "This is mine," and he handed her the datapad that he wrote the number on, and when she had saved it into her memory banks, she wrote hers down on the same datapad and handed it back to him._

_After he stored the number into his CPU, he waved her goodbye and turned to go, but before he could leave, she had put her servo on his shoulder and said, "I wasn't kidding when I said you're really good, ya know, I honestly think you're the best technician all of Iacon, perhaps even Cybertron has to offer, not to mention the most courteous," she smirked at her last remark, and let him go on his way._

_He left that building with an uncharacteristic smile on his faceplates, as he transformed to finish his cycle at his office… and to brag to Blaster about his 'score', of course…_

…_.._

"_YOU WHAT?" Blaster shouted, after Soundwave had smugly told him about his experience. _

_It had started off innocently enough; Soundwave told him about how everything went, the diagnostic, then the finding the problem, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, routine stuff. Then he started talking about how he found the problem wasn't a virus, but a simple wire twist, which left Blaster pretty impressed, and __**then**__ he described the actual customer (and it was veeery detailed…hmmm… getting suspicious), then WHAM! "I am going on a date with her."_

_Spoken calmly too, no excessive glee, no hopping in place from excitement, just calmly spoken like an average mech talking to his friend (which is what was happening… but you get the point)._

_He actually made it seem __**easy **__to get a femme._

_Pfft, well, not all mechs in the world could pick up femmes like the trashbots pick up garbage on the streets, let alone __**keep**__ one (Blaster is one of those, but let's not hurt his feelings)._

_So when Soundwave told him this 'news', he felt, in all honesty, quite jealous._

'_No,' Blaster mentally chastised himself, 'He's my bud, I'll support him in this, be his advisor, all though that is actually probably not the best idea, but, I can still support!'_

"_That's… nice Soundwave…er, yah, really nice," he at least __**tried **__to sound sincere._

"_You don't seem to think so," Soundwave noted, optics ridges slightly falling in disappointment._

"_Well...," 'Might as well tell him the truth,' "It's really great that you may have a girl, and all; it's just…"_

"_You really wish you had one that would stay," Soundwave finished for him._

_Blaster smirked, "I'm that easy to read, huh?"_

_Soundwave nodded his helm, "And since you've had some experience in this area, I thought I'd ask you for advice."_

"_Wait, you want me, a single, lonely mech, to give you advice? I can't keep a fembot for more than a week!" Blaster exclaimed, slightly hoping his friend would change his mind._

"_Perhaps," Soundwave agreed, and Blaster mentally sighed in relief, "But are you sure you don't have any pointers I could know about? I am pretty much walking in the dark here… __**without **__infrared."_

'_Well I can at least try to do that, femmes aren't that hard to figure out,' "Alright, so first you've gotta tell me, do you know a basic idea of what she likes to do, go, etcetera?"_

"…_Not really…" Soundwave admitted._

"_Ok, that's cool mech, I can work with that; I'll just give you universal femme advice," Blaster said, taking the empty chair next to Soundwave, and getting into a serious discussion position, said, "Now, you don't have to do all of these at once, but for a first date, they make pretty good impressions. _

_First, femmes looove to talk about almost anything and everything in the universe, especially themselves, but be warned, it can get very long and __**very **__boring; the key, though, is to be able to answer anything she asks you, and not appear bored. _

_If, by then you have survived the first task, remember that femmes like it when you comment them on how they look, act, and so on. _

_If she asks you if you like, say… an accessory on her that you think is awful, but she appears to love it, you can't lie, 'cause they hate that, but you can't be candid, either, so a good thing to say is 'I think the other one looked better,' or, 'Hmm… why don't check out those ones over there, to compare?' that way, they are hopefully not offended._

_And the last but definitely not least, bring your transaction datapad and/ or some credits, because it leaves a mark if you get them gifts, but for the first date it might just be some energon, but it never hurts to be precautionary," and with that Blaster ended his 'way to woo fembots' session._

"_Thanks for words of advice, Blaster, I better get going now, though, I told her we'd meet at the crystal gardens at sunset."_

"_Good, you're already starting off good; femmes don't like it when you're late, now get going!" and with that the best buds parted for the cycle._

"_I should start taking my own advice," Blaster mumbled to himself, as he started toward his station to end his day._

…_.._

_Rotary Blades' was just finishing some of her daily chores when her doorbell rang. _

"_Soundwave? Is that you; there's still a few more megacycles 'til sunset," she walked over and opened the door, but the figure that met her optics wasn't Soundwave, rather two of her best friends, Ashfire and Blitzebel._

"_Hey girl!" Ashfire greeted enthusiastically, jumping into the room to hug Rotary Blades._

"_Ash! 'Bella! What are you two doing here?" she asked, excited to see them, but curious all the same._

"_What? Is it illegal to see our bestest bud?" Ashfire asked, relaeasing her grip on Blades to stand next to Blitz, who was leaning on the wall by the couch._

"_Of course it's not, silly; I just wanted to know what you're both doing over here, you gals live on the border of Kaon, and I didn't think you had jobs that let you travel?" _

"_Well…" Ashfire muttered, happy attitude instantly vanishing, "Blitz, why don't you tell her, you're the one better at explaining things."_

_Blitzebel sighed, "In case you're wondering, Blades, we didn't lose our jobs, we transferred," she stated, easing her worried friend's CPU._

"_Why did you transfer? I thought you guys liked Kaon?" she asked, she had always remembered Blitzebel wanted to go excavating in the mines, and Ashfire wanted to do… well, she didn't exactly specify, but the point is that they were both stoked, and now they looked glad to be out of the place._

"_We do," Blitzebel said (ok, now Blades was just lost), "It's just not safe there anymore."_

"_What do mean it's 'not safe', Kaon has never really been 'safe', especially with the prisoner miners…" she shuddered at the thought. Prisoner miners were ruthless thugs, they liked to hold gladiator matches in the underground tunnels, just to satisfy their sick CPU's blood-lust._

"_The prisoner miners __**are**__ the problem," Ashfire said, "Rumor has it that one of the miner/gladiators is planning a revolt, and we think it's better to be safe than sorry."_

"_Do you know if the local authorities have taken any action?" Blades asked, she didn't want to be hearing reports on the news about a group of thugs bombing towns and cities alike._

"_All we know so far, is that the guy's name is Megatron, or something like that, and that he's like the best underground gladiator in their games," Blitz explained._

"_So, where are you guys going to hang? And are there jobs you both found?" Blades asked, going over to sit on her couch._

"_Yep! We're right next door!" Ash exclaimed, opening Blades door then leading her to the room across._

_Blades squealed in delight, then barged into their Blitzebel's and Ashfire's shared room._

"_You guys got a nice pad!" she noted, nodding appreciatively at their well decorated quarters._

"_You like it? I totally set it up!" Ashfire said, and Blitzebel just rolled her optics at the two giggling fembots._

"_Are you two done giggling like fanfemmes, or are we going to go hang out at 'Iacon Plaza' together?" she asked, and Blades optics suddenly lit up as she remembered something._

"_I can't tonight," she said sheepishly, "I am going out somewhere tonight."_

"_What? Why don't you just take us with you?" Ashfire asked, giving Blades the retro-puppy optics._

"_It's kinda… sorta…. a umm… date," she admitted, nervously wringing her servos._

_Both of the other femme's optics became the size of dinner slabs, and their jaw hinges dropped to the floor._

_Ashfire recovered first and slyly asked, "Who is it?"_

"_His name is Soundwave, and he came by earlier to fix my monitor…" she said, rubbing her helm with her servo._

_Before Ashfire could get any ideas, Blitzebel asked, "So when are you meeting him?"_

"_In a few clicks; he's going to come to my place and then we're going to go to the Crystal Gardens for a walk."_

"_Sooo, how much do you know about mechs?" Ashfire asked, "'Cause I can give you some pointers if you need 'em."_

"_I suppose that wouldn't hurt, I've never been on a date before," she said sitting down on their well furnished couch._

_Ashfire sat down right next to her and started in a funny professional way, "Ok, since you said this is your first date, I'm going to just give you good ideas._

_First, you've got to understand the mind of most mechs; now try to remember that each one is different, so you'll have to watch him, but almost every mech's main motive is to impress you enough to like them, so if he's doing things that you think are totally stupid, he may think they are totally awesome, and will get you to like him, especially in a group of mechs._

_Second, I know how much us femmes like to talk about ourselves, but let him have the spotlight for a while, or don't continually chat his audios off, just have some silence for a little bit._

_Third, by some of the meals you get, don't make him responsible for all of it; share, it's what happens in long-term relationships._

_And last but not least for now, if you don't want a one night stand, don't be overly flirtatious or seductive; let him see the inward you, and that will tell you if he's 'the one'."_

_Rotary Blades just nodded in acknowledgement, while Blitzebel smirked and said, "You can't keep a mech for the life of you, since when did you have such good advice?_

_In a serious tone, Ashfire answered, "Because none of them were 'the one'; my carrier had given me the advice I just gave Blades, and I intend to keep it."_

"_Well, thanks gals, but Soundwave should be here any moment, and I should be ready," she said as she started to get up to leave._

_As she was almost out the door, Ashfire said, "Don't forget to show us this 'Soundwave' after you've been with him for a little while," "And if he breaks your spark, we'll break his faceplate, take care and have fun!" Blitzebel added, then shut and locked the door to their quarters as Rotary Blades left for her apartment._

"_It's good to see those two," she said to herself, as she entered her quarters, "Although, I never knew that Ashfire gave such good advice…"_

…_._

In my little story, Primus actually created the Transformers, and the ancients created the Allspark in an attempt to create life, but were only able to create drones like the Vehicons in Prime… so that's just how I like to see it, if you are used to the 'Allspark' created Transformers' theory

**A/N: That…took…so…long…to….write…. Anyway sorry there's not much action (or Raf), but I am building up from Soundwave's past, and up… as you can see. One day I may get a DA account (if mom and dad will let me) and show what my femmes look like. I was just gonna put Rotary Blades (I know, I know, her name sounds kinda stupid, but hey, if it sticks in my brain, it goes) in this story, but I decided to add Blitzebel and Ashfire as well… so now I'm going to have to draw them for myself…*sigh* Rotary Blades was hard enough, and one day I am going to draw ALL of my OC's… or break my hand trying. Anyway, tell me what you think! (Again, sorry there's not much blowing stuff up yet :/)**

**Starburst**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This again shouldn't have much action in it, but we'll see…and if Soundwave seems a little OOC (ok, he's reeeealy OOC), there's a reason for that, and it will be explained in later chapters, but for now, you'll just have to suck up fluffiness, and hopefully some action, because I'm hating myself for writing cheesy fluff, I mean, come on! I am a girl of action and humor, how can I be writing romance! Ugh, whatever, on with the story…**

**Warning: Again, just cutesy fluffiness, and Soundwave sounding cheesy.**

**Coder:father**

**Carrier:mother**

**Click: minute**

**Vorns: 83 human years**

_Italics=past events_

_**Bold Italics= Lazorbeak/Ravage talking**_

_After Soundwave had finished his talk with Blaster, he had hurried out of his workplace and into the busy end-day traffic of Iacon, eager to get home to look his best for his date with the beautiful femme he had met today called Rotary Blades._

'_Rotary Blades,' Soundwave thought to himself as he skillfully flew through the airway traffic, 'That's a unique name, and it's actually kinda cute.'_

_After 20 megacycles of air travel, Soundwave touched down by the front door of his home, which was located in one of the less busy sectors of Iacon, and keyed in his password to lower his security systems, which he had installed because it never hurts to be safer than sorry (and on that particular day he had had a lot of free time on his servos)._

_When he entered his abode, he was promptly greeted with a tackling hug from his cyber-panther, Ravage, and given a thorough kitty decontamination bath by means of a wet, black glossa._

"_Ravage, ok, ok, that's enough; I get that you're glad to see me, but I've got to get ready for my date with Rotary Blades!" he said, finally succeeding in pushing his cat off of him, and gently petting his ears._

_Normally, Ravage would just lean into the touch and start purring, but this time he just sat as still as a pile of scrap, and his optics brightened slightly._

"_**You are going on a what?"**__ Ravage asked, but to anyone who was nearby it sounded just like a metallic growl. (1)_

"_I am going on a date, Ravage," Soundwave said again, as he rose to walk to his wash rack._

"_**I heard you the first time, I'm just slightly shocked that a femme actually likes you," **__Ravage said, trotting alongside his master whom he considered a coder._

"_Thank you, Ravage, that most certainly helped build my close to none confidence," Soundwave sarcastically replied, and then shut the door in Ravage's faceplate as he went into his wash rack._

"_**Wow, that was so considerate of you Ravage, just kick a mech while he's down, why don't ya?" **__a new voice stated from the shadows, as it emerged into the form of a large, metallic bird, drifting toward the cyber-cat._

"_**Oh, lighten up, Lazorbeak, I was just trying to get on his sensors; I mean, come on, have you ever seen Soundwave with a **_**femme**_**?"**_

"_**No, I will admit I haven't, but you still shouldn't do that; at least not until after their first date, speaking of which, who is he going out with?" **__the bird asked as he landed near the cyber-cat, who had proceeded to walk toward the couch in the living room._

"_**Some femme named Rotary Blades; he didn't say anything else about her though, although she must be something else, because **_**Soundwave **_**actually likes her."**_

"_**Perhaps you are right," Lazorbeak agreed, "Oh well, let's leave him be for tonight, but we may pester him tomorrow, if all goes well." "I am fine with that; who knows, we might be able to get some emotion out of him yet…"**_

…...

_Soundwave was nervous. No, that would be putting it mildly. Soundwave felt like he had to deactivate self-destruct codes on over 1,000,000 different monitors, otherwise Cybertron would be wiped out of the galaxy for all eternity. And all he had to do was ring her doorbell._

_Over 1,000 different thoughts flowed at the speed of light through his anxious CPU. Average thoughts on a first date, really. 'Am I in a too fancy armor; do I look freshly waxed, what if she changes her CPU?' you know, the basic things that mechs think when they are at the femme's front door. _

_And, sadly, Soundwave was no exception to these feelings, so it was honestly quite impressive when he in-vented heavily, and quickly pressed the button on Rotary Blades' datapad, before he could freak out mentally again. And it had taken less than a click to pull himself together._

_Although the feeling of nervousness resurfaced just as quickly as it had gone when he saw her pretty faceplate and shining armor coming out of the door and into the hall._

"_Are you ready to go?" she asked sweetly, making Soundwave's circuitry sizzle at the soothing sound._

_Honestly having no idea what to say, he just settled for a simple "Yes," and proceeded to walk beside all the way to the outside of the apartment complex._

"_Are we going to fly there or would you like to walk?" he asked._

"_Why don't we just walk, the Crystal Gardens are not that far away, and the rush-hour traffic is dwindling, so we should be quite safe to cross through the streets," and with that she took his servo into her own and started down the sidewalk, completely oblivious to the way Soundwave's optics widened when she grabbed his servo._

_They walked for a good 15 cycles before they sat to rest on a bench right outside the front gate of the garden, and were awestruck just looking at the gate._

_The gate was made of thousands of tiny crystals, shining magnificently upon the metallic surface of Cybertron in every single direction._

_Yet as they rose from the bench to enter through the marvelous gate, it paled in comparison to the sight that lay before their optics._

_Since Cybertron was a planet made entirely of metal, Cybertronians who had been exploring to other planets were dumbfounded by any vegetation they had come across, and had paid skilled craftsmen to build fabulous sculptures of the things they had seen out of the most beautiful gem on Cybertron, which happened to be crystals. _

_Sometimes the sculptor would copy an exact likeness for themselves, or they would sell their artwork to the highest bidders, which was often members of the Council or Prime families, who in turn gathered the sculptures into a collective garden for viewers to marvel at._

_Soundwave and Rotary Blades were no exceptions, as they continuously gazed at the mass amount of artwork for mechometers ahead._

"_Wow," Rotary Blades whispered, "This is… I don't even know a word to describe how beautiful this is."_

"_I can't think of a word to describe this either, but I can think of a person these sculptures remind me of," Soundwave said, slightly smirking as Rotary Blades turned to look at him with a quizzical optic. "Who?" _

_Soundwave chuckled a little, and responded, "You."_

"_Ahhh, Soundwave, you don't even know me that well," she said, but couldn't keep the big smile off of her faceplate._

"_But I don't have to," he said, taking both of her servos into his, and looking into her soft, silver optics, "I just look at the outside you and see the same material as those crystals in your armor, the same radiant shine from when you just smiled, and the same mix of blue and silver in both of you."_

_Rotary Blades just blushed profusely, and kept trying to deny all of it, but Soundwave remained sincere, as though he wasn't just trying to flatter her to win her into his spark, but as though he honestly meant every word he just said, down to the smallest detail._

_Their romantic little moment was momentarily halted due to a sound that had resounded from the pit of Rotary Blades' tanks._

"_Guess I'm hungry," she said, gently rubbing her abdomen, "Did you have anywhere in mind to go?"_

"_Yes, would you like to go down to the Skylight Café? I hear they have a great selection of energon." _

"_I would love to go there, my friends are always telling me I have to get some of their high-grade, but I don't like getting over-energized so…"_

"_Really, I don't either, but Blaster is always sating the exact same thing," he said as they exited the Crystal Gardens and headed down the sidewalks toward the café, which was within optic view across the street._

"_Who's Blaster?" she asked, tilting her helm towards Soundwave in curiosity._

"_He's my best friend; he's also the mech you spoke with on the on the comm. System when you had the problem with your monitor."_

"_Ohhh," she said, facing front again as her question was answered, "He seemed… like a spirited type."_

"_That would be putting it mildly," Soundwave said sarcastically, and Rotary Blades chuckled a little in response as they entered through the mechanical doors of the café._

"_Hello, how may I help you?" a serving drone asked, slightly tilting its helm in politeness._

"_We would like a table for two, please, and on the roof if possible," Soundwave said, and the drone led them to the top of the building, where there were many empty tables available, and seated them by the side railing where they could look over the now dark skies of Cybertron._

"_I shall be back to take your order in a few clicks," the drone said, as it wheeled away go serve the guests at the other tables first._

_The couple picked up the menus the drone had left with them, and scanned the list of energon for one that might suffice._

"_Which one do you want?" Soundwave asked, and Rotary Blades scrunched up her lips, pondering over the many delicious choices on the menu._

"_I think I'll have… the slightly sweetened regular- grade, how about you?"_

"_I'm liking the look of that highly sweetened medium-grade…"_

"_May I take your order?" a drone asked them with a datapad and stylus in its servo._

"_I would like a cube of slightly sweetened regular-grade, if you please," Rotary Blades asked, and when the drone nodded and turned to Soundwave, he said, "I would like a highly sweetened medium-grade, thank you," and with that the drone put up its datapad and stylus into subspace, and wheeled out to give the chef-bots their orders._

"_Soooo…" Rotary Blades said when their waiter had gone, "I think we should start to get to know each other a little bit more, don't you think?"_

"_Yes, I do, would you like to share first?" Soundwave asked, and he dug up the advice Blaster gave him out of his CPU on this matter._

"_Sure! Oh where to begin… Well, as you already know, my name is Rotary Blades, and I am a femme of 23 vorns old, I was sparked and grew up in the outskirts of Kaon; I am told that I am very friendly and outgoing, but I'm also polite and considerate, I like to watch funny holovids and read romantic holopads, but I don't do the horror stuff. _

_I also would love to have a few cyber-pets, they can be so cute, oh, and I also want to have a few sparklings, so you're going to have to be with that," she stated, ending with an important note that Soundwave would have to consider._

_Sparklings weren't on the top of Soundwave's priority list, but he would do anything for her._

"_Well, no need to worry there, I am perfectly fine with sparklings, and about me, I am 25 vorns old, I was sparked in Kalis, but then I grew up for the most part in Polyhex, but it was right on the border of Kaon, as well. _

_I am considered laid-back and stoic by my friends, but they also say that if the need be, I can have a caring spark._

_I have two cyber-pets, a cyber-panther named Ravage, and a cyber-hawk named Lazorbeak."_

_They continued talking to each other about themselves until the waiter drone arrived with their orders, then they frequently paused to take a swig from their drink while they continued to talk._

_Soon, they had finished, and they went to the front to pay for the bill (which Soundwave covered) and they left the place in giggles and chuckles as they continued walking down the sidewalk towards Rotary Blades' home._

_When they reached her place, they both stopped outside her door, when Rotary Blades said, "Thank you, Soundwave, for this enjoyable night, I haven't a night like this in well… ever."_

"_Same here, and you're welcome, I hope to hear from you again?" he asked as she opened the door to her quarters._

"_You can count on it; goodnight, 'Wave," she said, and before she closed the door she heard him say, "Goodnight, Blades," and they both parted for the night._

…...

_Meanwhile, in the gladiatorial pits of Kaon…_

"_Lord Megatron," a seemingly emotionless voice droned as its owner entered the personal quarters of the aforementioned mech, "You summoned me?"_

"_Yes, Shockwave," the mech answered, his voice giving the room a chilled feeling, "I have noticed that I have many kinds of mechs that would make excellent warriors, but I do not have any who would be able to spy on the Council and hack into their advanced computer networks, allowing me access to their weaknesses and strengths."_

"_And how can I help you in this matter, mighty Megatron, I am a scientist, not a spy," Shockwave asked, his single optic betraying no emotion, although it did seem to darken a shade in curiosity. _

"_I know, Shockwave, but I want you to do one of two things, either _build_ me a superspy, or _find_ me a superspy; I leave the choice to you, but do hurry, for my plans for my takeover of Cybertron, shall soon begin," and with a wave of his servo, he dismissed Shockwave to his new assignment._

"_I shall attempt to search for a mech on the Cybertronian Grid, (2) and if I find nothing there, then I shall find myself a test subject," and Shockwave started to access the Grid for Cybertron's best know hacker/spy._

"_What's this?" he asked himself, as a mech with an unmatched quality in fixing network systems in the known history of Cybertron popped up on the screen._

"_It says his name is Soundwave, I shall have investigate this mech, for if he can fix problems, I am quite certain he can cause problems as well…Lockdown!" he called to a scary looking mech in the shadows._

"_You rang?" Lockdown asked, as he leaned up against the wall of the underground pits._

"_Yes, I need you to track this mech on the screen, observe him, find out what you can about him, but don't let yourself become known by him… we don't want to get our plans out to the wrong bots."_

"_Gotcha, I'll give ya frequent comms. of info I gain, and I'll stay under the radar," and he transformed to leave, but Shockwave stopped him to give him one more order._

"_And Lockdown, if he happens to somehow catch on that you're watching him, comm. me, it could mean he has the makings of a spy in the Decepticon army…"_

_Lockdown gave a rev of his engine, then sped through the secret, underground tunnels of the gladiatorial pits, eagerly awaiting some hunting fun…._

…...

**(1) This is because since I have Soundwave as a technology wiz, he created a device that allowed animal brainwaves to be transmitted onto a certain frequency which turned their thoughts into words. It's just like the dogs on the movie UP, except only Soundwave can hear it, because his comm. frequency is different than anyone elses, but he could add other frequencies on the chip, so they could hear the pets talking too. **

**(2) So the Grid, I am pretending, is like one, big Facebook, that anyone can look at, and there's not really any privacy blocks… because it is so ridiculously easy to hack.**

**A/N: Ok, so there wasn't any action yet, but as you can see it's getting there. I was seriously hoping for some action in this one, because that's fun to write, but, alas, it was not meant to be *sigh***

**Next chapter we should see some sneaky-sneakyness, and probably not as much fluffiness, but we'll all see…. Anyway, that's all for now! Enjoy the suspense!**

**And I know Raf hasn't been in here for like, 2 chapters now, but it's all part of the plan! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So this one has action in it, I promise, and, there will probably be major time jumps, so if anyone thinks I rushed this chapter, I did, because somehow it just worked, at least in my brain...**

**Warning: Only a sentence or two of fluff… but a bit more gore/torture… **

_Italics=past events_

_**Bold Italics= Ravage/Lazorbeak talking**_

_Solorcycle= 1 year_

_Bonded=married_

_Cycled energon=blood_

_Pede=foot_

_Soundwave and Rotary Blades continued dating for a few more weeks, then they had finally decided that they should meet each other's friends. The introductions had gone well, and everyone soon became close._

_Unknown to anyone, Lockdown kept an optic out on not just Soundwave, but everyone else he was close to, in case he needed to give him some… motivation to join the Decepticon cause._

_Normally, Lockdown would just 'bag 'em and drag 'em,' but during his period of watching Soundwave, he noticed that not only was Soundwave smart, he had a strong will, and Lockdown didn't think that that will could be broken with electric whips and hacksaws... unless, of course, he convinced him with some unwilling volunteers._

_In any case, Shockwave relayed Megatron's orders to him, and so far he was just supposed to keep watching Soundwave, not make any moves just yet._

_Which was disappointing; who knew how long he would have to just watch? Hunting was far more fun when you got to mess with your prey, but for the sake of his metal hide, Lockdown would obey Megatron's orders… no matter how long it took..._

…

_It ended up taking almost 2 complete solorcycles for Lockdown to find some news that might interest Megatron enough to assign Lockdown into some action._

_During the last 2 solorcycles, after about 1 solorcycle of dating, Soundwave and Rotary Blades finally got bonded. They had decided to just have a simple bonding ceremony with their closest friends and family. Rotary Blades also moved into Soundwave's house on the outskirts of Iacon after they bonded._

_Lockdown had thought that this might be his ticket to launch, but to his surprise and annoyance, Megatron had told him to continue monitoring Soundwave._

'_I need him for my cause, but it will take time for him to come to my cause, as he will not accept readily, and if what you have said is true, then I will need more than his bondmate to get him where I want him; working in these mines has given me the virtue of patience, which these plans will require…,' Megatron had said, but he must not have realized that some had more patience than others._

_Now don't get me wrong, Lockdown had a great amount of patience, but he also knew that lying dormant for too long could make one's sense of patience grow thin._

_Nonetheless, Lockdown would still wait until Megatron gave the order._

…...

_A while after he had spoken with Megatron, he overheard Rotary Blades mumbling to herself from her and Soundwave's berthroom, while she paced back and forth across the floor, as though very anxious about something._

_His curiosity piqued, Lockdown snuck closer to the outer window of the room, and tuned his audio receptors to her frantic muttering._

"_How will I tell him? I know that he said he was fine with one, but now? We were just bonded less than a solorcycle ago, I don't know if I'm ready for this…" she had said to herself, obviously debating on how to tell Soundwave… something._

_Her muttering stopped, and she ran out of the room into the living room, and Lockdown stealthily followed her in the shadow of the night._

"_Soundwave! How was your day, dear?" she said as she greeted him, with a big hug and a kiss on his cheekplate._

_Ravage and Lazorbeak were not far behind, each giving their own greeting to him._

"_Alright, alright, settle down everyone, you're treating me like I'm Sentinal Prime, or something," he joked, returning Rotary Blades' kiss with one of his own, "Mine was fine, same old, same old, how about you?"_

_At that, Rotary Blades appeared to almost lock up, but she composed herself and said, "Soundwave, there's something I need to speak with you about," and she turned to head toward their shared quarters._

_Ravage and Lazorbeak looked up at Soundwave with glinting optics, as though they knew a secret that he did not._

"_What's got you all excited?" Soundwave asked them._

"_**You'll see,"**__ Ravage said, obviously enjoying keeping the secret._

"_**Why don't you go ask Blades? She has the answer," **__Lazorbeak added, feeling the same way Ravage was about their little secret._

_Raising an optic ridge, Soundwave headed to back to their quarters to talk to Rotary Blades._

"_What was it you wanted to tell me?" he asked, lying next to her on their berth._

_Unknown to the two of them, Lockdown had his audio receptors tuned as high as they would go, eagerly awaiting the answer to ease his curiosity._

"_Soundwave…" she started, 'Might as well get on with it,' she thought to herself, as nervousness crept into her circuits, "I…I had started getting sick each morning a few days ago, and I had thought it was just the flu-virus, but then I went to the medic because it just got worse, and I found out that I'm…" she paused, unsure as to how to go on._

"_You're what?" Soundwave urged, gently stroking her ariel fins._

"_I'm…I'm sparked," she finally blurted out; she then looked up expectantly into his optics, awaiting his take on the news._

_At first, Soundwave just stared at her, processing this news, and then his CPU flashed possible futures before his very optics, with a sparkling by his side in each…_

_After his momentary mental space out, he saw the expectant look on Blades' faceplate, so he continued to stroke her fins while he said, "That is great news! I bet Blaster, Blitzebel, and Ashfire will love to hear about it!" _

_As they continued to chat away throughout the night on this joyous revelation, Lockdown had left them for the night and headed back to his ship, which wasn't far away from Soundwave's place, and contacted Megatron immediately._

"_Lockdown? Have you more news?" Megatron asked; sitting in a scrap-pile he had made his temporary throne._

"_Yes, my lord, I have found that Soundwave and his bondmate are sparked, although they just recently discovered this news," Lockdown answered, patiently waiting for Megatron to reply._

"_Hmmm, this may be our ticket to getting Soundwave to join our side," Megatron pondered, then asked, "Does he or his bondmate have any relatives living in or near Iacon?"_

"_No, my lord, but both have close friends that live in the heart of the city."_

"_Goood, since word has broken out that I am starting an uprising, those loyal to the council and their way of life have started calling themselves Autobots, and have been stopping my forces from conquering Kaon and the surrounding areas. _

_Since the council and the Prime support these Autobots, some of the population has been joining their side, but most remain neutral, for they do not fear us, and do not consider us a threat. _

_Nonetheless, everyone knows of the group and all of their ideals, so if one of their own were to kill a neutral, the population would get riled up, and the Autobot's reputation would be tarnished; the neutrals would believe that we Decepticons were being honest, they will join our side for protection, and we will rule all of Cybertron!" Megatron ended with a cold laugh that rang in Lockdown's comm. system for a few nanoseconds._

"_That would be glorious, my lord, but how do you plan on accomplishing this?" Lockdown asked, honestly not understanding why Megatron was telling him this._

"_Ahhh, I shall need you, Lockdown, to pretend to be an Autobot and kill the friends of Soundwave and his bondmate; claim that they helped some Decepticons in Kaon, by sneaking in ammunition to their forces, if you must, just make sure that they buy your act," Megatron finished with an evil smirk on his face._

"_What if they don't?" Lockdown questioned, "The neutrals are smart, and are not easily fooled."_

"_If they don't, I shall have to send others to accomplish that task, but your main objective is to get Soundwave to believe it, so that he will be so enraged with the Autobots that he will want to join us, and help us remove the council from their rule."_

"_What about his bondmate? Should I kill her too?"_

"_No, let her live; I may need her in the future, now go, you have your orders," and with that the link was severed, and Lockdown said to himself, "Finally, I get to have some action! Now, all I have to do is dig through my trophies for some armor that will mask my appearance, a hologram projector, a voice modifier, and a temporary name for myself, in case anyone asks, then tomorrow, the fun will begin…"_

…_..._

_Ashfire and Blitzebel were talking and walking down the busiest street of Iacon on a warm Sunday, having a fun day out to look through all of the stores, and maybe even bring stuff home._

_So far, each femme had at least one hand full of bags from buying things, and they hadn't even gotten half-way down the street yet._

"_Did you get the news?" Ashfire was saying, "Blades is going to be a carrier!"_

"_Yes, I heard; Ash, you've been pinging me for like, all of last megacycle!" _

"_I know, but I'm just so excited I can't stop talking about it! I wonder if it's a mech or femme, what are they going to name it, for all we know, they could be having twins!" she exclaimed, waving her free servo about in a flourish._

"_Ash! Chill out, you act like you're going to blow a circuit…" Blitzebel said, attempting to make her hyper-active friend calm down._

"_Fine," Ashfire sighed, then quickly grabbed her friend's servo and dragged her over to a store displaying flashy femme armor._

_Neither of them noticed the figure that was leaning on the wall of the ally next to the store, watching their every move._

_After about 20 clicks inside the store, the femmes came back out with even more bags then last time, and this time they decided to head back to their apartment for the day._

"_I don't think I can carry another bag," Blitzebel complained as they headed back toward their place._

"_Me either," Ashfire agreed, and she accidently dropped a few bags right in front of the ally where the figure was hiding._

_As she stooped to try and pick it up, the hiding figure suddenly snatched her bag and took off down the alley._

"_Hey! Come back here!" she said, and both femmes chased after the mech with the bag._

"_These bags are slowing us down, he's getting away!" Ashfire said, "Well then let's transform and follow after him," Blitzebel suggested and then promptly transformed into a Cybertronian jet._

_Ashfire wasn't far behind, and sped off in her car form after the thief._

_Lockdown soon realized that the femmes were gaining on him, and if he wanted this to work, he needed to get them to follow him out to his ship, but he also had to make sure that he passed by Soundwave's place, to get him to try and help his friends._

_To go faster, Lockdown transformed into his vehicle mode, and gunned his engines in the direction of Soundwave's place._

'_If they were smart, they would have called the local authorities right about now. Oh well, better for me,' he thought, and he continued to speed through the empty roads of the outskirts of Iacon._

"_I'm getting low on energy, Blitz," Ashfire said to her friend in the sky, "Do you think you could continue to follow him, while I get some fuel at Blade and 'Wave's place? I could also see if they could help us catch this thug."_

"_You do that," Blitzebel replied, "I'll follow this guy," and with that Blitzebel sped off after the mech as they passed her friends' place, and Ashfire quickly transformed, grabbed the rest of her things, and frantically knocked on their door._

_Upon hearing the earnest knocking, Soundwave went to the door and opened it. He (along with Rotary Blades and Blaster, who was hanging with them today) was surprised to see an exhausted Ashfire barge in, drop her bags on the floor, and run into their kitchen to fill up an energon cube._

"_Ashfire!" Rotary Blades exclaimed, slightly disturbed at seeing her happy-go-lucky friend exhausted to the core, "What happened?"_

_After she had downed a whole cube, she explained, "Blitz and I were having fun shopping, and then I dropped some of my stuff, this mech just snatched them from out of my hand and took off. We chased him all the way here, and Blitz is still going after him; could you help her, Soundwave?"_

"_Of course, Blaster, will you come with?"_

"'_Course I will, we'll get this mech, you don't need to worry," Blaster assured, and Ashfire muttered a thank you as she started to fall into recharge from over-exerting herself._

_As soon as Soundwave and Blaster stepped out of the house, they transformed and zoomed toward the direction Ashfire had said they'd gone._

"_Blitzebel," he said on the comm., "What are your coordinates?"_

"_Soundwave, good to hear Ash got to you; I'm transmitting coordinates know," and Soundwave instantly got a HUD that gave her coordinates directly to his processor._

"_Be right there; let's go!" he said, and they sped even faster to find her, 'I hope she isn't knee deep in scrap,' he thought, as he soared and Blaster sped (1) through the colorful sunset sky, not far from the coordinates given…_

…...

_Blitzebel had chased the mech all the way to a ship in a junkyard on the outskirts of the local town, and was now debating on whether she should go in alone or not._

'_I guess I'll just wait, Soundwave should be here soon,' she decided, and sat down on the nearest pile of scrap._

"_This place is disgusting! Why would anyone want to have a ship in this place?" she said out loud to herself, and didn't notice the mech she'd been chasing throw an electric prod her way._

_The prod landed in-between her neck and shoulder joints, sending its painful electric charge that would overheat her circuits throughout her body._

_The last thing she saw before her world turned black was the mech standing above her with stasis cuffs…_

…_..._

_After about 5 clicks of flying and driving, Soundwave and Blaster transformed in front of the same ship Blitzebel did, except instead of waiting, like she had, they charged right on in through the open door (which should have been a signal that something wasn't right, but since these were good times, mechs and femmes had grown lax with noticing 'obvious trap' tactics)._

_As soon as they were inside, the door that led them outside closed, leaving them trapped in unknown territory._

"_Tell me where they're hiding!" they heard someone yell toward the front of the ship, promptly followed by a scream of agony._

_Forgetting to use caution, Soundwave and Blaster ran as fast as they could toward the voices, and when they reached what appeared to be some sick version of a brig, their optics widened in horror._

_For there, lying in a bloody, crumpled heap in chains, was Blitzebel, her captor holding an electric whip in his servo, the electricity casting an eerie blue light in the darkened cell._

"_I've… already… told you!" she coughed, spewing some cycled energon on the floor by her captor's "I… don't know… anything… about the… Decepticons… or… where they're…hiding." _

"_Lies!" the mech yelled as he slapped her across the faceplate, "My spies saw you in the Kaon mines, giving info on our whereabouts to the Decepticons!" and he continued to whip her until she cried for mercy._

"_Please!" she begged, coolant leaking from her optics, "I thought… that you… Autobots… were… the good…guys."_

"_Hmpf, are you neutrals really that blind as to not see through our disguise? We only want you to _think_ that you're safe with us in your cities. We could care less about what happens to all of you. We just want to be the rulers of Cybertron," Lockdown said, knowing full well that Soundwave was here listening…and watching._

"_Oops, I've said too much, looks like I'm going to have to make sure you can't speak of this to anyone… ever… again," and he slowly pulled out a knife from his subspace, and dramatically drew it over his head, waiting for Soundwave to do something._

"_Stop it!" a mech yelled, not Soundwave, Lockdown noted, but perhaps it was Soundwave's friend? _

"_You leave her alone!" ahhh, there Soundwave was, now, to make him buy it._

"_Well, well, well, if it isn't Soundwave and his friend Blaster," Lockdown said, turning to face them._

"_How do you know who we are?" Soundwave asked, as Blaster slowly started to head toward Blitzebel._

_Lockdown chuckled, "Let's just say… I've gotten to know you and your friends a bit more… personally; tell me, do you know what gender your sparkling is yet?" _

_Soundwave and Blaster froze at his last comment, fear seeping into their circuits, and horrible thoughts crossed Soundwave's CPU._

'_If he knows about that, he must know where we live, and I don't think he'd hesitate to kill any of us…'_

"_Surprised?" Lockdown asked, moving away from Blitzebel and toward Soundwave; all the while keeping a watchful optic on Blaster and Blitzebel._

"_A bit," Soundwave answered, "I didn't know Autobots could be so sparkles."_

"_Well, they are, welcome to reality, but now that all of you know, I'm going to have to kill you," and, to everyone's utter horror, Lockdown threw the knife right at a defenseless Blitzebel, and it hit her in the center of the chestplate._

"_Blitzebel!" both Soundwave and Blaster yelled, as Blaster ran to help Blitzebel, and Soundwave went to get Lockdown, who had run to the back of the ship, where the door was._

_Soundwave could have sworn he had never ran so fast in his lifecycle; anger, hurt, and worry, all propelling the joints in his legs, making his vents work so hard he thought they would burst._

_When he got outside, to his surprise, he found the Autobot lying dead on a scrap-pile, a spear impaling his chestplates. _

"_What the…?" Soundwave had started whispering, but he was soon thrown to the ground by an unknown force, and promptly flipped onto his back, with a gun in his faceplates._

"_Who are you?" the mech asked, and held the gun unwavering in his faceplates, "Are you an Autobot?"_

"_No!" Soundwave answered quickly, fear he had never known before taking control of his functions, "I'm Soundwave, my name is Soundwave, and I'm not an Autobot!"_

_With that the mech let him get up, took the gun out of his faceplates and said, "Name's Lockdown, I'm a Decepticon bounty hunter."_

"_Well, Lockdown, were you the one that killed that mech?"_

"_Yah, this mech here stole my ship, I had to track it down, and that wasn't easy without my gadgets; you ok?" he asked, feigning concern as best as a good Decepticon could._

"_Yah, I'm fine, shaken by the current events, but still fine; my friend though, I don't know if she is ok, I've got to go check on her!" and Soundwave transformed and sped off back into the ship, Lockdown following behind him._

"_Blitzebel!" Soundwave cried as he transformed next to Blaster, "Is she alright?"_

_Blaster shook his helm 'no', and was struggling to hold back the coolant that had threatened to cloud his optics._

"_Hey… Soundwave…" Blitzebel coughed as she lay in Blaster's arms, "Do… me…a favor… will you?"_

"_Of course," Soundwave acknowledged, gently cupping her cheekplate._

"_Tell… Ashfire… Blaster… and Rotary… Blades… that I… was glad…to be… their… friend… and…congrats…on your…sparkling," she gasped as she vented for the last time, her optics going dark, no longer the vibrant purple they used to be._

"_Blitzebel!" both mechs cried, finally giving in to their emotions, and the stress of a situation they had never been in before, that they hoped to never be in again._

"_Would you like to take you home?" Lockdown asked, after the mechs had grieved for a few clicks._

"_Yes," they both said, but then Soundwave added, "And… do you think… that you might be able to transport my bondmate and to Kaon? I believe that we are no longer safe here…"_

"_Of course, I will drop you off and if she agrees, I will take you where you wish to go."_

"_Thank you," Soundwave said, and Lockdown excused himself from the mechs to go to his comm. room._

"_Lord Megatron," Lockdown sent, "I have convinced Soundwave to move to Kaon, the loss of a friend convinced him that the Autobots were not safe, I am ready to receive new orders."_

"_Excellent!" Megatron replied, "Things are going just as I wanted, when you transport them to Kaon, I want to know their exact location, so that I may spy on him some more…"_

"_Yes, my lord," Lockdown said as he cut the transmission, and prepared the ship for launch._

'_These times are about to get more interesting,' he said to himself, as he gave a dark chuckle at the thought. _

**Let us pretend that Blaster has car alt-mode, because let's be honest, Blaster is waaaaay to tall to be a boombox****.**

**A/N: Wahhhh! I killed my my third favorite OC :'( Why, Ashlyn, why! Well, you had to give the readers some action, but look what it has cost! I must attempt to stop killing my favs, Hasbro does it enough with Starscream! **

**Enough of me smacking myself for killing her; since I realized I haven't really described Ashfire and Blitzebel's appearances, it is below…**

**Ashfire: She is big enough to be a convertible sports car; she has almost the exact same features as Prime Arcee, except her pedes are far smaller, and her paint job is pink and orange with orange optics, and she doesn't have winglets.**

**Blitzebel: Think TFA Blitzwing for her wings and alt-mode; she also has a beige and purple paintjob, but she has purple optics instead of red; she also has helm that is similar to Airacnid's in TFP, but hers goes down into the form of like a shoulder length square cut, and then Airachnid's helm mixed in with it.**

**So, I think that describes how they look, I haven't drawn them yet so I am going off of the fuzzy images in my brain :P**

**Anyway, hope you liked this chappie, and I should get back to the present here soon, but we'll have to see.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Howdy y'all! It's been a while! I was kind of stuck on this chapter, but I think it will work out fine. Time to get writing! (Or in your case, reading)…**

_Italics= past events_

_Orbital cycle=day_

_Deca-cycle=week_

_Stellar Cycle=month_

_**Bold Italics=Ravage/Lazorbeak talking**_

"_Oh, Soundwave! Praise Primus you're alright!" Rotary Blades exclaimed as she ran to embrace her bondmate, "What happened? I've been comming you for the last megacycle; and what's that ship doing outside our house?"_

"_Blades," Soundwave replied, "We need to have a talk," and he led her to their berthroom, leaving Blaster and Ashfire in the living room._

_As he closed the door, Soundwave said, "Rotary Blades, we need to move to Kaon."_

"_What?" she exclaimed, shocked that Soundwave would want to live in the worst known city of Cybertron, "Why on Cybertron would we need to move there? It is full of thugs, thieves, and those awful Decepticons!"_

"_That's just it, sweety! The Decepticons aren't the awful ones; the Autobots are!" he said, and Rotary Blades' expression turned bewildered, "Who gave you that bogus idea? The Decepticons have been trying to take over Cybertron, and the Autobots are fighting to stop them!"_

_After she had finished speaking, Soundwave quietly answered, "Because, when we had chased down that mech who stole Ashfire's stuff, we found out he was an Autobot, and he…" he trailed off; it hurt him to tell his beloved that her best friend was murdered._

"_He…what?" Blades urged, gently placing a servo on his shoulderplates as she noticed his crestfallen appearance._

"_He…killed Blitzebel," he finished sadly, and he instantly heard a gasp from Rotary Blades as her processor tired to understand what had just said, without honestly believing it._

"_Y…You…You're kidding…right?" she asked, more like begged that Soundwave be wrong._

_But, to confirm her fears, Soundwave just shook his helm, and she instantly started wailing at the top of her vocalizer._

_Soundwave held her comfortingly as she cried, and he also heard another femme wailing that was not Rotary Blades._

'_Blaster must have told Ashfire,' he mused, and started to whisper comforting thoughts to his bondmate, "Shhhh… it's alright; I'm here with you."_

"_H…Ho…How could they… do some…thing like… this?" she asked when her vocalizer was not emitting static bursts._

"_Because, they are the bad mechs, contrary to what we thought, but they were just acting in order for us to lower our guard; that's why we must go to Kaon, that Autobot must've had friends, and they wouldn't dare try to attack us in Decepticon territory."_

"_That monster knew where we lived!" she shrieked, and instantly started to panic, "But…But we can't just let our lives crash apart! You have a job, and we can't afford to move…"_

"_Blades!" he said, bringing her frantic babbling to a halt, "I know, that is why the kind Decepticon who brought us back here has offered us jobs with them, and in return will provide our needs for us," he explained, and Rotary Blades' was slightly relieved to hear that they would be cared for._

"_Alright, can we pack our stuff or do we have to go now?" she asked, the painful news about Blitzebel momentarily pushed into the back of her CPU._

"_Let's get as much as we can, as to not keep Lockdown waiting," he said, and they both went out of their room and Rotary Blades instantly started to pack while Soundwave went over to ask Blaster something._

"_Blaster," he asked, and Blaster looked up from where he was holding a still softly sobbing Ashfire, "Are you going to come with us to Kaon?"_

_Blaster sighed, and answered, "As much as I think it's a good idea, I just can't; I think I'll be fine for now in the city, but if something drastic happens, I will more than likely hike to Kaon," and he asked Ashfire the same question, and she answered, "I also think I'll stick here, or maybe I'll go to Polyhex, but I don't think I can go back to Kaon," and both she and Blaster stood up, and gave each of their friends best of wishes, then took off, to continue living their lives in Iacon, never to meet or hear from Soundwave and Rotary Blades again for millennia…_

…...

_As Soundwave, Lockdown, and Rotary Blades finished loading the last of their furniture and other stuff into Lockdown's ship, Soundwave, Rotary Blades, Ravage, and Lazorbeak all gave a last look at the place they had called home, and when the ship's door closed, they headed toward the control room to find some seats._

"_You can make yourselves comfortable in the west wing of my ship; it's the only place that has enough seats for all of you, and it's going to be a few megacycles before we get to Kaon," Lockdown said as he powered up his ship._

"_Thank you, Lockdown," Rotary Blades said as she and her family walked toward the wing he directed._

_When they had left, Lockdown commed Megatron to give him an update._

"_Lockdown," an annoyed sounding Megatron answered, "What is it?"_

"_Forgive me for interrupting anything, my lord, I just thought you would like to know that I am on my way with Soundwave and co., minus his friends, they decided to stick to home turf."_

"_Good, make sure you land at the coordinates I have given you; and after they are settled into their new environment, bring Soundwave directly to me," and after relaying the orders, Megatron broke the connection, and Lockdown continued to fly to the coordinates he just received…_

…...

"_Oh, Soundwave, how could all of this happen to us in one orbital cycle? First, we learn that I'm sparked, next some sick Autobot kills my best friend for no reason, and now we have to give up the simple life that we've always known has been shattered…how are we going to cope," Rotary Blades sighed as she finally gave in to her exhaustion and laid her helm on Soundwave's shoulderplates as she slowly fell into recharge._

"_**Yes, Soundwave,"**__ Ravage asked as he came to lay down by Soundwave's pedes, __**"How are we going to cope? Even if these mechs are very generous to us, they are warriors, we are not; how can we live in a place like that without becoming warriors ourselves?"**_

"_I am certain that there are jobs we can do that will still make us neutral in their war, and even if there isn't, we can still survive," Soundwave said as he stroked the cyber-cat behind his audios._

"_**But how?" **__Lazorbeak asked as he alighted on Soundwave's free shoulderplate, __**"Like Ravage said, we are not warriors, and I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like having to blow stuff up for a living."**_

"_Maybe we don't have to," Soundwave said as he stroked his pets with each of his servos, "Perhaps they have monitor systems that have bad bugs on them just like in Iacon? That wouldn't be so bad, now would it?"_

"_**I suppose…but I hope they don't make Ravage and I do anything, I like the simple life of a loyal pet; oh well, I am going into recharge, please do wake me when we arrive,"**__ Lazorbeak said as he flew off to recharge in a nook on the ceiling._

"_You want to go into recharge, too?" Soundwave asked Ravage, who in turn nodded his helm, "__**I would like to sleep off the events of today; everyone's sorrow over the loss of Blitzebel is making my spark ache."**_

"_Mine too, Ravage, mine too," Soundwave muttered as he fought to stay awake; the day's events taking their toll, and in the end, when Lockdown came to check on them, he found them all in a sound recharge…_

…...

"_Hey! Wake up, we're here," Lockdown yelled from the doorway, startling his passengers awake. _

"_Have a nice recharge?" he asked as he walked over to where the little family started to online their systems from their temporary shutdown phase. _

"_Yes, although, it would be very much appreciated if you didn't scare us out of recharge; it gives the systems a painful boot-up," Soundwave said as he rubbed his helm that now hurt from his systems on-lining too fast._

_Lockdown chuckled, "Sorry 'bout that, I'm just used to wake up calls like this 'round the base; anyway, we're parked right outside of your guys' new place, let's grab your stuff and head out," he said as he started to grab some of the stuff they brought with them and took it out into their new house._

_Soundwave and Rotary Blades did the same thing, and when they got inside their door, they noticed that this place was no better or worse than their last home._

'_This should make it easier to adjust here,' Soundwave thought as he set some of their furniture down in their new living room._

_After all of Soundwave and Rotary Blades' belongings were unloaded from the ship, and everyone was in the new house, Lockdown said, "After you have gotten settled in your new place in a few weeks, these coordinates will lead you to the location you will meet the Decepticon leader; he had a few jobs that he believes you are the best mech for," he waved to them as he walked back onto his ship to leave._

"_I really like that mech," Blades' commented as she and Soundwave watched Lockdown's ship take off, "He seems really nice."_

"_I like him too; let's start to furnish our new place…"_

…...

_As soon as Lockdown had left the house, he commed Megatron to let him know that Soundwave was moving in with his bondmate as they spoke._

"_Excellent!" Megatron praised, "Your work here is done, return to base, when the time is right I will send others to Soundwave's residence."_

"_Yes, my lord," Lockdown acknowledged as he cut the transmission, smirking at the praise he received from Megatron._

'_Wonder if I'll get a reward for all of my hard work?' Lockdown thought to himself as he sped off toward the Decepticon headquarters…_

…...

_Soundwave, Rotary Blades, Ravage, and Lazorbeak had adjusted to their new home quite well._

_And on about the third week from their arrival at Kaon, Soundwave decided that he should go to the meeting with the Decepticon commander this orbital cycle._

"_But how will he know that I'm there?" he asked aloud as he studied the coordinates on the datapad that Lockdown had given him._

"_Did he give you any way to contact him?" Rotary Blades asked as she was cleaning the energon cubes in the kitchen._

"_No, so maybe they have a beacon or something that alerts them to anyone inside this building? Either way, I best be off, see you soon, Blades," he said as he exited their house and flew off toward the location the coordinates indicated._

…...

_As he touched down on the front side of the building, Soundwave noticed that it was unlike any building he had ever seen in Iacon, or on any educational holovids, for that matter._

_This building looked like a warehouse, but it had so many weapons defense systems that Soundwave was reluctant to go anywhere near it. _

_Mustering up his courage, however, Soundwave walked toward the entrance, keeping an optic out for any suspicious sign of movement from the turrets on the roof. _

_To his relief, they hadn't moved a mechameter as he entered the warehouse._

_The automatic doors slid closed with a screech, and the lights lit the darkness of the warehouse somewhat._

"_Ahhh, you must be Soundwave," a small red mech said as he came toward Soundwave, "Lord Megatron said you'd be coming."_

"_How did he…?" Soundwave started to ask, but the mech interrupted him as he slung a servo around his shoulderplates, "Come, right this way; the name's Knockout, by the way," he added as he led Soundwave through a series of tunnels that would get any mech unfamiliar with them hopelessly lost._

_They soon came to a dead end, and Knockout keyed in a passcode in the datapad that had just transformed out of the wall, which then made the metal plates of the wall slide back and reveal a room full of Decepticons._

_Mechs and femmes, flyers and ground-pounders, almost every kind of Cybertronian was present in the room._

"_This is the rec. room; sadly, it just had to be the room that was by the entrance. Oh, and watch out for anything and anyone, things can get rowdy in this room," Knockout advised as Soundwave ducked in order to avoid an empty energon colliding with his helm. _

"_Hey, Knockout!" a big yellow and purple mech asked from a table by his left, "Whose this?"_

"_This is Soundwave, Bonecrusher, and you can't 'introduce' him to the others until Megatron says so, besides, I don't think Hook wants to fix any more of your…'introductions,'" Knockout mocked , and the other mech sneered and continued talking with his fellows at the table._

_Knockout continued to lead Soundwave down dark hallways until they came to a huge room with a purple face painted on the front._

"_This is the command centre," Knockout explained, "Lord Megatron is waiting inside," he said, and turned to head back the way he came, leaving Soundwave alone._

_Soundwave searched for a keypad to open the door, but instead someone opened it from the inside._

"_Ahhh, Soundwave, please, do come in," a gun-metal gray mech said from upon what appeared to be a throne._

_If Soundwave wasn't uneasy from the burly mechs in the rec. room, he was definitely creeped out by this mech._

_This mech was huuuuge, but that wasn't all. This mech had spiky armor all over him, and the reddest optics Soundwave had ever seen. Whoever this was, he most certainly looked like a warrior._

"_I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, welcome, Soundwave, to our main base," he said as he stood up and walked on over to Soundwave._

"_Good to finally see you, sir. Lockdown said that I would soon meet you," Soundwave said respectfully, sensing that this mech approved of formality._

"_Yes, I heard he did; the reason you are here is for a job, correct?" Megatron asked, and Soundwave nodded in response._

"_I believe I may have the job for you," he said as he threw his huge servo over Soundwave's shoulderplates (why did everyone keep doing that?) and walked with him throughout the enormous command centre._

"_Right now," he began, "I have almost every great warrior, scientist, and medic in all of Cybertron. The only mech I don't have is one who specializes in monitors and spying. I believe you, Soundwave, are the mech I have been searching for," Megatron stopped and turned to face Soundwave fully, "You may be the key for ridding this planet of those awful Autobots, what do you say. Are you willing to do it?"_

_Soundwave was silent for a click, but then he answered, "I do believe I could do the monitors, but I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a spy."_

_Megatron considered this for a few clicks, then replied, "Very well, tomorrow you shall have a tour of our base, and then Shockwave," he nodded to the mech with a single optic over by the monitor system, "Will assign you to your post, understood?"_

"_Yes, sir," Soundwave acknowledged, and before the doors slid closed, Megatron said, "And Soundwave, it's lord."_

_Soundwave nodded and disappeared from sight as the doors slid shut._

_Shockwave walked over to where Megatron was, and asked, "Do you just plan on letting him stick with monitor duty, my lord?"_

"_It depends," Megatron said as he sat down onto his throne, "If he has other abilities that are worthwhile to me, I shall give him those tasks as well."_

"_And if he refuses?" Shockwave asked, his single optic not betraying any curiosity._

"_Then I have ways of motivating him, and I doubt he would ever defy my will, for the sake of his family…"_

…...

_When Soundwave came home, he was surprised to see that Rotary Blades was not home, only Ravage and Lazorbeak._

"_Where is Rotary Blades?" he asked them, and Ravage answered, "__**She went to the local medical station; she said she wanted to get a check up on the new sparks,"**__ he purred as he flicked his metallic tail to and fro._

"_Wait, what do you mean sparks? There is more than one?" Soundwave asked, completely flabbergasted at what Ravage just told him._

"_**Yes, she said she had tried to comm. you, but her calls weren't making it through. We assumed it had something to do with the warehouse you entered."**_

"_How did you know that I went to the warehouse?" Soundwave questioned, and Ravage turned to look at a sheepish Lazorbeak, who explained, "__**I... may have followed you to make sure nothing bad happened to you while you were in unknown territory."**_

_Soundwave just chuckled and shook his head, turning to go get an energon cube from the dispenser._

"_You two always were the overprotective type…"_

…...

_At the medical station…_

"_Mrs. Rotary Blades?" a medic assistant said as she entered the room with the sparked femme, "The medic would like to speak with you."_

_Rotary Blades nodded her helm and the assistant said as she moved aside to let the main medic enter the room._

"_Ma'am," he started, "I am pleased to inform you that you are carrying twin sparks."_

_Rotary Blades smiled again, even though she had already been told this, but he smile quickly turned to a frown as the medic continued, "But we have discovered that the sparks are very small, which means that the sparklings may never reach the full size of an average Cybertronian."_

"_Does that mean that they will be unable to do the same things that regular sized Cybertronians can?" Blades asked, worried for her unborn children's lives in the real world._

"_It's too early to tell, but I don't believe they will be hindered in any way," he reassured, and Rotary Blades relaxed a little._

"_How long until they are born?" she asked curiously since she never had children before, and didn't know what to expect. _

"_Well, depending on how long your body takes to form the metal alloy and other parts of a Cybertronian, it could take anywhere from about 9 deca-cycles to 9 stellar cycles; it's just too early to tell," he explained, and Rotary Blades nodded her helm in confirmation. _

"_With that said, I believe you are free to go, ma'am," he said, and the medic assistant led Rotary Blades out into the waiting room, where Rotary Blades paid for her visit, then took off to go home…_

…...

**A/N: I think this chapter was probably the most boring one to write, and it was so slagging difficult for some reason. Well now you have my theory on why Rumble and Frenzy are so small, and personally I think it's a good explanation, do you?**

**Also, as you may be able to see, I have a difficulty with the time segmants, because there are different ones for each series, so if the time periods constantly change, forgive me, I'm trying just to stick to one series, but when you watch Animated and then G1, they sometimes get mixed up, and sometimes they get turned into a whole different meaning alltogether…**

**Please review, and tell me if you want to see any interaction between certain characters, and I might be able to get it in, but no guarantees. :)**

**Also, totally off topic, but, does anyone know a transformer whose alt-mode is a quad? My brother named his dirt bike Arcee, and so far I'm calling my quad Blaster, 'cause that's the make of it :P**

**Toodles! Hope that this wasn't that boring.**

**Starburst**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hopefully, if all goes well, this should be the last "past events" chapter for a while, but no guarantees. And due to that, this may seem to be a little rushed, but I am merely trying to skip through the events that are unnecessary to the plot. So there ya have it, oh, and there's going to be more action in this one, and you may get to see how Soundwave becomes who he is in the Prime series ;)**

**Warning: violence/death in this one**

_Almost an entire solorcycle had passed from the time Megatron and Soundwave had met faceplate to faceplate._

_During this time, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons had escalated immensely, and Soundwave had decided to become an official Decepticon. Rotary Blades hadn't been to keen on this idea, but when Soundwave said that he could help those whom the Autobots enslave or murdered, she remembered what had happened to her friend, Blitzebel, and finally relented._

_Soundwave had been assigned to the monitors, whether it be fixing them or gaining information on the enemy Autobots. He also started to train in the art of weaponry and spy mastery, just in case he should need to use these skills one day._

_Soundwave had become acquainted with most of the Decepticons on the base, namely those who frequented the command centre, Megatron, his second-in-command Starscream, and his head scientist Shockwave, were the ones he knew best._

_He barley ever got to see Rotary Blades, Ravage, or Lazorbeak now a days, but every chance he got, he would spend as much time with all of them as possible._

_This orbital cycle was one of those days where he had not been assigned any important tasks, and he got the chance to go home for the day._

_When Soundwave got home, he was not greeted with any happy purrs, trills, or even a "Hello, dear," from Rotary Blades, which had become customary. Instead, Ravage ran out of the berthroom and anxiously explained, "__**Soundwave! You must come quickly, we believe Rotary Blades is about to have her twins!" **__At this Soundwave immediately snapped into action, and darted after Ravage into the berthroom, where Lazorbeak was in a semi-panic, not quite knowing what to do with a femme that was about to spark._

_Soundwave wasn't quite sure either, so he told Ravage and Lazorbeak, "Stay here and watch her; I'll go and get the medic; be right back, sweety," he said to the grimacing femme as he started to run out of the house._

_The medical station was not far away, and he arrived there in less than a few clicks. As he rushed into the station, ex-venting heavily, he tried to speak as clearly as he could, "My…bondmate…Rotary….Blades is…going… to spark," and the medic's assistant at the counter immediately got to work, pinging the medic and some other assistants to gather the things they'd need._

"_We'll be right there, sir," she said, and three more femmes (one he assumed to be a medic) came out of the elevator shaft, things needed for delivery in their kits._

"_Let's go!" the femme medic said, and they all transformed and sped off to the house…_

…

_Rotary Blades had been in labor for 9 megacycles, and Soundwave could have sworn he had never felt so many emotions cloud his processor at once. He, along with Ravage and Lazorbeak, had taken to waiting in the living room until the sparklings had been born, in order to stay out of the femmes' way._

"_**Do you think that they're almost here?" **__Ravage asked as he sat by Lazorbeak on the floor. "I hope so," Soundwave replied, "Her screams are starting to make me hope it will all end soon." "__**I feel the same way," **__Lazorbeak added._

_Then, all of a sudden, the cries of Rotary Blades stopped, and two new cries took her place._

"_Mr. Soundwave, they're here," one of the assistants said as she slid the door open for the little family to come in and see the new arrivals._

_In each of Rotary Blades' arms lay a tiny, mech sparkling, wailing at the top of their small vocalizers, sounding quite hungry._

"_Here," one of the assistants said as she stuck a bottle filled with sparkling-grade energon into each of the newborn's mouths. _

"_Hey, honey, you wanna hold one?" Rotary Blades asked, her voice staticky and carrying traces of exhaustion. "S..Sure," Soundwave said, and he held out his servos as the medic placed the tiny sparkling in his arms._

_Soundwave was in a moment of awe as he explored the features of his new son, and then he realized something, "What do you want to name them, Blades?" he asked, and Rotary Blades replied as she watched her two sons, "The one I'm holding seems to be a hyper-active bundle of joy, so I would like to call him Frenzy, what do you think?"_

"_I like it; the one I'm holding sounds like he's rumbling, so why don't we call him…Rumble," Soundwave said as the newly named sparkling Rumble continued to make deep humming noises._

"_Rumble and Frenzy, my little mechs," Rotary Blades said as she slipped off into to a deep recharge…_

…

_5 solorcycles later…_

_As the years passed, there was almost no place on Cybertron that was a safe haven. Almost all Cybertronians had either become Autobots or Decepticons, and there were almost no neutrals left._

_Soundwave soon found out as he was trying to pick up some chatter on Autobot frequencies, that even his old friend Blaster, and his now bonded Ashfire, had aligned themselves with the Autobots._

_This was the first of many events that turned Soundwave from being the kind mech he was, to the sparkless soul we see him as today._

_The next was that the mechs in the Decepticon army were not very nice to Soundwave, and he got his fair share of bashings and med. bay trips as any of the non-warriors._

_And the thing that almost drew the final straw for Soundwave, happened on an orbital cycle that had started out peaceful, but then ended in chaos._

_Soundwave was at his station checking for any possible hints as to where the Autobots may strike next, when he overheard one of the Vehicon grunts tell Megatron that they had some Autobot prisoners in the brig, ready for interrogation. _

"_Soundwave!" Megatron yelled, and Soundwave immediately snapped up from his spot into attention, "I want you to go see if you can get any information out of them, and if they don't talk, comm. me, and I will join you," Megatron ordered, and Soundwave obliged him._

_When he reached the brig, he saw what appeared to be two Autobot scouts. It was hard to tell since their armor was all mangled and dented. He was slightly disturbed, since he had never in all of his solorcycles with the Decepticons seen war prisoners, let alone interrogate them._

_So after almost 2 solorcycles of trying to get them to talk with no luck, he finally pinged Megatron and asked him to come down._

_When Megatron arrived, the first thing he did was sneer and back-hand the first scout across the faceplate, causing cables in his neck to snap and burst from being pulled too far._

_Soundwave physically grimaced; he had never seen anything like this before and he had honestly never wanted to see anything like it ever. _

_Megatron continued to beat the poor mechs for information, but they refused to say anything, even if their agony continued. "Soundwave!" he growled after he had dropped one of the mechs onto the bloodied floor, "Dispose of these two! They will not give anything to us," he said, and Soundwave felt his spark stop beating for a nanosecond._

"_Y…You mean…__**kill**_… _them?" Soundwave stuttered, completely flabbergasted at what his commander had just told him to do. He had never killed before! He was a monitor geek, not a cold-blooded murderer!_

"_Yes," Megatron answered, "Or do you not wish to perform this task?" he then asked, and Soundwave vigorously shook his helm in response, taking a couple of steps away from his lord, quite honestly scared about what might happen for answering honestly. _

"_I didn't __**ask**__ you to kill them, I __**commanded **__you to kill them, so either obey my order now or the consequences will be severe," Megatron threatened, but Soundwave couldn't bring himself to do it, and in a fit of rage, Megatron fired his fusion cannon at the sparks of the Autobots, permanently offlining them, then transformed his servo into a sword and slashed wildly at Soundwave, severing his vocalize, causing Soundwave to howl in agony._

_When Megatron's rage simmered and he realized what just happened, he contacted Hook and told him to prepare the med. bay for Soundwave. _

_Before Scrapper and Long Haul (who were the ones often sent to collect the victims of Megatron's ire) could leave with Soundwave, however, Megatron stooped down to writhing mech's faceplate and said, "Hesitate to disobey me again, and there will be far greater consequences next time; he's all yours Scrapper," and Scrapper, along with Long Haul, proceeded to reach down and heave Soundwave to the med. bay, but before they left him to Hook's care, Scrapper said to an almost unconscious Soundwave, "That's why we never question orders, by the way; Lord Megatron likes to deliver punishment to those who don't do his bidding." _

_Soundwave promptly fell into the painless oblivion of stasis lock._

…_.._

_When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was that his throat stung badly, and that when he tried to speak, no words came out._

"_Ah, good, you're up," Hook said as he came over to Soundwave carrying a datapad. "You've been in stasis lock for almost an entire decacycle, your pet bird even came by the warehouse and asked the guard what happened to you; told it that you got injured in an attack from the Autobots…" he said, and Soundwave narrowed his optics at Hook, to which Hook replied, "What? You didn't honestly want us to fry your bird did you? If your family found out what really happened to you, we'd have to dispose of bad witnesses."_

_Soundwave took this to mean that if he let it slip why he really happened to him, his family would pay, and he wasn't about to let that happen._

"_Anyway, Megatron didn't bust any of your important energon lines, so that's good, but he did shred your vocalizer, which means that you won't be able to speak again, or at least until somebody invents replacement vocalizers, which I don't see happening in the near future, so for now, if you'd like, Shockwave invented a mask that will allow you to use recordings as speech, and it will amplify your sensor's sensitivity and range, which could prove useful, since you're a spy and all…" Hook said, and Soundwave thought about what Hook just said for a little bit, and then nodded his helm in acceptance of the offer._

"_Good! I'll get started attaching the mask to your faceplates, this shouldn't take long," Hook said as he grabbed a welder and started to weld the mask onto Soundwave's faceplate._

…

_After the procedure, Megatron had told Soundwave to get back to work, which he did, if not far more reluctantly._

_After a few decacycles of this, Shockwave brought it up to Megatron._

"_My Lord," Shockwave said as Soundwave headed to his home for the night cycle, "I believe that Soundwave has grown far more reluctant to do as you have commanded, and he may defy you in the future, and tell others bad things about us, which will make us lose our once neutral allies; what are you going to do?"_

"_I am going to make sure he knows without a doubt that I am his leader, and that he will serve me, no matter what I command," Megatron said, and Shockwave again asked, "Would you like me to do, my lord?"_

"_I want you to create some drones that will pretend to be Autobots; have them destroy Soundwave's house and some of the nearby area, that way it will appear as though Autobots just decided to make a bold move on Kaon. But, I want you to also send some Vehicons to 'defeat' the Autobots; that way no one will even suspect that we had anything to do with it. I also want you to make sure that his bondmate is killed, program one of the 'Autobots' if you must, but it is crucial that Soundwave loses someone very close to him," Megatron ordered, and Shockwave questioned, "What of his sons? Should I kill them as well?"_

_After pondering his question for a little bit, Megatron answered, "No, I may need them as leverage against Soundwave; now go prepare the Vehicons, you will strike tomorrow," Megatron commanded, and Shockwave went off to fulfill his lord's wishes._

…

_At Soundwave's house…_

"_Daddy!" two little mechlings (one red and black the other purple) exclaimed happily as they ran toward their father and hugged his legs._

"_Oh, Soundwave!" Rotary Blades exclaimed as she felt tears brimming in her optics when she ran to hug him, "Lazorbeak told us what the guard said to him about the Autobot attack, and we were all so worried!"_

"_What happened to daddy's face?" the little red and black mech asked his mother, and Rotary Blades replied, "I don't know, what did happen dear?"_

_Soundwave tried to tell them, but he remembered he couldn't speak, and the mask he wore was displaying on his HUD zero recorded messages, so he settled for telling them the old fashioned way…by writing a note._

_After he had written what had happened (minus the fact that Megatron was the one really responsible), he handed the datapad to Rotary Blades. When she was done reading it, if she thought she was going to cry before, she definitely was now._

"_Oh, Soundwave! How could they do such a thing?" she wailed, and Rumble and Frenzy looked on curiously. _

"_Why is mommy sad?" Rumble asked Soundwave, and it broke Soundwave's spark that he couldn't tell him why his mother was sad._

"_Because sweety, daddy got hurt really badly," Blades answered when she could speak clearly. _

"_Daddy has a boo-boo? Where? I'll kiss it and make it better," Frenzy said as he started to kiss random spots on Soundwave's leg, and Rumble followed along._

"_All of the kisses in the world can't fix daddy's voice now, honey," she sadly giggled as she patted her son's helm._

"_Daddy can't talk? Why not?" Rumble asked, and Rotary Blades answered with practiced simplicity, "Because some mean mech…did… something to daddy's vocalize, and it won't work anymore."_

"_Oh," Rumble and Frenzy both said, their optics dimming in sadness._

_Sensing the sadness of the twins, Ravage came in and comfortingly said, "__**Don't worry, mechs, daddy will love you whether he can talk or not; now why don't we head off to bed, mommy has had quite a long orbital cycle, and I'm pretty sure she'd appreciate it if you two would be good mechs and get ready for bed,"**__ with that, Rumble and Frenzy raced off to their respective recharge beths, and Rotary Blades mouthed a thank you to Ravage, who went off to make sure they did as they were told._

_Now that they had some time alone, Soundwave led Rotary Blades to the couch and sat down, while he stroked her ariel fins comfortingly as she sobbed into his chestplates._

"_Oh, Soundwave, this war has become such a burden to all of us. I constantly fear that we will be attacked by those Autobots, and I am afraid that they will hurt Rumble and Frenzy, or even worse, offline them! And then you; I am thanking Primus from the bottom of my spark every time you come home safely, and this last decacycle almost made me go mad with worry!" she sobbed, and Soundwave wished that he could say some words of comfort, but he could not._

_After exhausting herself from sorrow, Rotary Blades was almost in recharge when she uttered under her breath to Soundwave, "I love you," and, right before she fell into recharge, Soundwave played back on his new recorder facemask, "I love you."_

_They both fell into their last recharge together on their couch that night._

…_._

_The next orbital cycle, after everyone was awake, Soundwave left to go to the base a little later than usual, because he wanted to spend some time with his family._

_It felt good to just sit with Rotary Blades by his side, and watch his little mechs play with Ravage and Lazorbeak in the front yard, laughing and giggling and yelling to each other, all in good fun. He almost decided to stay home for that orbital cycle, but a comm. from Starscream squandered that idea._

"_Soundwave! Lord Megatron requests your presence at once!" Starscream sent, and Soundwave didn't even get to answer. Not that he could anyway, but you get the point on how egotistical Starscream could be._

_Dissapointed in having to leave his family, Soundwave stood up and looked at Rotary Blades with a blank expression, since the mask didn't allow you to see the faceplate that lay beneath it._

_Assuming that he was silently saying he had to leave, Rotary Blades stood up and kissed him on his masks screen and said, "Be safe, and I love you."_

_Soundwave played back the same recording from the previous night cycle, and then he waved goodbye to his sons and cyber-pets, and shot off into the sky towards the Decepticon headquarters._

…

"_Shockwave," Megatron commed, "It is time; release the drones."_

"_Yes, my lord," Shockwave replied, and he switched on the drones programming as he set them loose from a small Decepticon hide-out which was connected to the series of tunnels in the warehouse, and was very close to the town where Soundwave lived._

"_Now go, my minions! Make your master proud!" Shockwave exclaimed as the drones flew off into the nearby town, ready to complete their mission of chaos at any cost._

…

_It had been just a few clicks since Soundwave had gone, and Rotary Blades had taken to watching her sparklings play with Lazorbeak and Ravage from inside of the house, when all of a sudden, she heard the sound of jet engines coming from the east._

'_It must be the Decepticons out on patrol, although I don't ever remember them come to such a small town before, maybe they're trying to make sure that everything is running smoothly here,' she thought as she went to go get an energon cube for herself._

_Her thoughts soon changed, however, when she heard a series of extremely loud explosions coming from all over the town._

_Instantly, she ran outside to grab her mechs, and just as she was heading back toward the house with the terrified twins, what appeared to be an Autobot bomber came speeding over their house, and blew it up with a shrapnel bomb._

_Rotary Blades jumped to shield her sparklings from the shrapnel that flew everywhere as the bomb exploded._

_As she uncovered her sons, she was relieved to find them unharmed, but she instantly felt a sharp pain coming from her spark, and as she looked down, she gasped as she saw a huge piece of shrapnel protruding from her chest._

_She dropped to her knees, gasping as she tried to talk to her sparklings. "My…mechs," she gasped, "Go…with…Ravage…and…Lazorbeak…be…good…and…always…remember…that…I…love…you…and…you…two," she said as she turned her helm toward Ravage and Lazorbeak, who were dumbstruck as they watched the scene play on,"Take…them…to…Soundwave…and…know…that…I…love…all…of…you," she said as she fell to the ground, all of her systems shutting down as she passed into the Well of Allsparks._

"_MOMMY!" Rumble and Frenzy wailed as they grabbed their now dead mother by the faceplate and began to ask her to wake up._

"_**Come on, we must go, it is not safe here!" **__Ravage said, but Rumble and Frenzy refused to leave Rotary Blades._

"_**Mechs," **__Lazorbeak gently told the twins, "__**We can come back for her, but right now we must go find daddy, alright?" **__Rumble then climbed onto Ravage and Frenzy hopped onto Lazorbeak. Both cyber-animals took off, whether soaring or running, as fast as they could go, keeping as much of a distance as they could from the rising destruction and death surrounding them._

_They had almost made it to the warehouse when an Autobot drone shot by and launched missiles at the group._

_Lazorbeak was able to dodge these missiles without difficulty; Ravage, was not so lucky. He had succeeded in jumping out of the way of the first two, but the third hit the ground right in front of him and he stumbled, throwing Rumble off of him and sending him rolling. _

_Lazorbeak had swung around to try and help his brother, but he was not quick enough. The last two missiles hit Ravage head-on, tearing apart his circuitry and spilling his energon-blood everywhere. _

"_**RAVAGE!" **__he yelled as he continued to head toward the cyber-panther, but Ravage stopped him and said, "__**No! Keep…going! I…won't…make it; see ya…in the Well… 'Beaky,"**__ Ravage's helm lolled to the side, and he also offlined that orbital cycle._

_Lazorbeak was so distraught that if it hadn't of been for the Vehicon drone that shot the Autobot into oblivion, he, Frenzy, and Rumble would already be re-united with Ravage, Rotary Blades, and even Blitzebel._

_But since they weren't offline, Lazorbeak snapped back to his senses, grabbed the twins, soared into the warehouse and through the tunnels, and flew through the open door of the Decepticon HQ._

_Everyone in the Rec. room was shocked to see what appeared to be a bird with two sparklings hanging onto its legs zoom through the place and search for someone or something._

'_**I must find Soundwave!**__' Lazorbeak thought as he continued to soar down the long corriders of the base._

_Finally, after what seemed like a megacycle, Lazorbeak saw Soundwave at a monitor in the command centre. _

_Soundwave turned his helm towards him as if to say, 'Lazorbeak! What are you doing here?'_

"_**Soundwave! I have terrible news. Autobots just attacked our town, and they destroyed our home, the Decepticon drones fought to protect us but…"**__ Lazorbeak started, and Soundwave brought up his helm in surprise, as if he said, 'It's gone? Where is Rotary Blades and Ravage?'_

_At that motion, Lazorbeak lowered his helm in sorrow, and sadly explained, "__**Rotary Blades and Ravage….gave their sparks to protect us…" **__and Soundwave could have sworn that something inside of him offlined._

_And that was the final straw that had snapped. Soundwave had grown to change over the time he had been with the Decepticons, but now, now he felt so much rage against the Autobots that he desired to completely obliterate every single one on the face of Cybertron. _

_They had caused him so much sorrow in his life-cycle, but now they drew the line. He loved both Rotary Blades and Ravage with all of his spark, and now they were gone._

_In fact, he was so enraged that he searched for the nearest datapad he could find, typed something on it, and handed it to Megatron, who had listened to the whole ordeal, assuming that Soundwave's pet bird had told him about the tragedy the 'Autobots' had caused, since he could only hear trills coming from the beast._

_Soundwave stood back and stood straight and tall, silently waiting for Megatron to read the datapad, which said, 'I now see how wrong I was to ever disobey your command, mighty Megatron, and my punishment was justly given. I am from now on willing to do whatever it is you command without question, and I would be honored to slaughter any and all Autobots who dare defy you. I also request that my cyber-bird Lazorbeak, and my twin sons, Rumble and Frenzy, be raised as Decepticon spies, for I shall also be a spy if that is what you see fit. All hail, Lord Megatron!'_

"_I am glad you have finally seen the light, and your request is granted. You shall train them in the ways of the Decepticons," Megatron said, and Soundwave bowed then took the datapad back and wrote something else on there._

_Megatron read, 'My house has been destroyed, my lord, and I have nowhere else to go; is there a place we may stay?'_

"_Yes, the 3__rd__ room down the hall is vacant, that may be yours," Megatron said, and Soundwave bowed as he turned to head out of the command centre and went to the quarters he had been given, taking the rest of his family with him._

_When he had left, Megatron said to himself, "Now that Soundwave is fully mine, I can get him to access the files of the council, and strike the heart of Iacon directly…_

…

_In their new quarters, Soundwave's rage had finally simmered, and he plopped onto his berth and silently wept over the loss of his bondmate, and the pet he considered family._

_Rotary Blades. Oh how he already missed her sweet and tender hugs as she greeted him at the door of their home, and the way she kissed him on the cheekplate and wrapped her arms around his neck._

_And Ravage. The cyber-panther had been with Soundwave long before he even met Rotary Blades. That cat was the one who would always lift him and Lazorbeak up when they were down._

_Speaking of Lazorbeak, he should ask him how he felt about all of this._

_Turning towards the metallic bird, Soundwave just stared at him, hoping that he would understand that he wanted to talk, but didn't have a way in which to communicate with him._

_Thankfully, Lazorbeak seemed to take the hint, and said, "__**I am pretty sure that the datapad you handed Megatron said how you wanted to help him kill Autobots, and wanted us to do the same, and I wanted to let you know…I'm in. Ravage was my best friend and brother, and they took that away from me. I want to do everything I can to make them suffer. So whatever you have planned for us, I want you to know, I will go along with it."**_

_Soundwave smirked under his mask and nodded his helm, and he lay on the berth right next to his sons and Lazorbeak, going into recharge alongside the only family he had left._

_And tomorrow, he would wake up as a new mech. _

…

**A/N: That was about the longest chapter I have ever written, and I shall never do it again. This chapter I hope cleared up the OOCness of Soundwave in previous chapters. As you may be able to see, in this fic, Soundwave became evil instead of starting out evil. What can I say, war changes people.**

**Also, to clear up any confusion, I am not having Rumble and Frenzy be Casseticons, since I just don't see how that could work in this. And if you're going to say 'but Lazorbeak is one,' I know he seems like it, but I have a different way in which he is connected to Soundwave, which I will try to explain later. **

**So this should be the last chapter of past events, and I am going to hopefully get back to present time and have Soundwave explain Raf's past by means of flashbacks, so until next time (which will probably be tomorrow), please review!**

**Oh, and I've got a few more stories posted, so please go check them out!**

**Starburst**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: We are finally back to present time people! We're continuing off of chapter 3 where Raf faints (lol). It took me awhile to think of a illogically logical way to say how Raf is human, mainly because since I am not a fan of stories that go 'poof this happened because I feel like it and it's fiction anyway', I didn't/couldn't write that. And I explain how he became human in flashbacks, but they're not going to be whole chapter length ones. So here you are, enjoy!**

**Edit: I tried to get this up yesterday, but the stupid safeguard program on my computer wouldn't let me get on the internet AT ALL, and today it won't let me log on! ( But I will prevail! And if I don't, I shall beg mom to take it off, because I think that this program must be sentient or something. It works wonderfully for my mom and brother's computer, but it causes every single problem imaginable on mine….I think it hates me….**

_Italics = flashbacks/ Bumblebee talking_

When Raf finally came out of his shock induced slumber, the first thing he thought was that he just had the most horrifying nightmare in the history of all nightmares. I mean, if you had a dream that you were Soundwave's _son_, wouldn't you be terrified? (1)

Well, nobody else exactly _knew_ about Soundwave and the Decepticons (except for Miko and Jack), but still, 'twas a scary thought.

After the initial grogginess of passing out wore off, Raf begrudgingly opened his eyes; he was reeealy hoping that all that had just been said and seen was in all reality just a dream.

So when he saw Soundwave and that red and black 'con hovering over him with anxious optics (or just hovering, in Soundwave's case) he just wanted to crawl into a malfunctioning ground bridge and end up in any dimension, galaxy, time portal, wherever this current nightmare was not.

"You're back up! You just fell into stasis lock or something; it was actually quite weird," the red and black 'con said as he gave Raf the happiest smile he had never even thought was possible for a Decepticon to have.

"Uhhh bro, you alright?" he asked again as he saw what appeared to be an immobilized Raf staring out into space.

"I'm…fine….just trying to…comprehend…everything…that…you just…said," Raf answered in that creepy voice that most humans have when they are shocked.

"You sure? We can…" the bot started, but Raf interrupted him with a hysterical, "Yes! I am completely…100% fine! I would just like to know how, in the world, am I… your… son?" he finished and pointed to Soundwave, who didn't even seem fazed by Raf's hysterical outburst.

"_A long time ago…" _started to play from Soundwave's recorder facemask, but the red and black 'con interrupted him, saying that it would probably be easier for Raf to understand the story if it was actually spoken, not chopped together from random movie pieces.

"Ok, so it all happened when we Decepticons first started mining on this mud-ball planet about 12 years ago… (2)

"_Hey, dad? Can Rumble and I test out our new hologram projectors out by the mines?" Frenzy asked Soundwave from by the door of his families shared quarters._

"_Sure sweety, just don't go too far," a female's human voice sounded from Soundwave's faceplate mask, who had over time perfected the art of recording phrases._

"_Thanks dad! Ok Rumble, let's go!" Frenzy shouted to Rumble who was grabbing his hologram projector from under his and Frenzy's bunk-bed like berth._

_When the two mechs got out of the ship and got by the mines, they each pulled their projectors out from subspace and attached them inside a certain compartment on their waist-plates, then flicked the switch on. Displayed on their HUD was an error message saying, 'No DNA files saved.'_

"_Well that's just great!" Frenzy exclaimed, "How are we supposed to get DNA files? I'm pretty sure there are none on board the Nemisis!"_

_Just then, a van filled with a small family drove by on the road, which was a little ways from the mountain, and both Rumble and Frenzy's hologram projectors acted up, then shot a beam toward the van, engulfing it with its red light._

_When the beam suddenly vanished, their HUDs now displayed a message that read, 'DNA files acquired; which file would you like to access?'_

"_Sweeeet," Rumble and Frenzy said at the same time, then mentally started to sort through the files they just received._

_After they chose one they liked, their outward appearance instantly changed from two 7 foot tall mechs to a white man about the age of 40, and a white boy about the age of 7._

"_Wooooah," they both said, and they gasped at the drastic change to their own voices._

"_This is the best sparking-day present, ever!" said the high pitched voice of a cloaked Rumble. "Totally!" the now deeper voice of Frenzy added._

"_Hey Frenzy," Rumble asked, "Do you think we can hurt each other in our disguises?" "I don't know; want to find out?" Frenzy replied, his organic disguise's mouth crinkling into a smirk._

"_Definitely! Now on the count of three, we'll each punch each other in the faceplate, kay?" Rumble said and as soon as he counted to three, they punched each other._

_Except it didn't end out like they planned, with Frenzy keeping his target and nailing Rumble in the face, while Rumble hit Frenzy in the place that makes every male fall to his knees in agony, due to the major height difference._

"_HOLY MOTHER OF UNICRON!" Frenzy shouted as he fell to the ground, rolling around in immense pain._

"_Yah, I think we can still feel pain in these disguises, too," Rumble said as he rubbed his organic nose profusely. _

_After Frenzy was able stand up again, he immediately shut the hologram projector off and returned to his original self, Rumble doing the same._

_When Rumble noticed Frenzy was still rubbing a certain area, he asked, "You alright, bro? I didn't hit ya that hard..." "No, I'm totally fine; you didn't at all just nail me in every mech's weak spot!" Frenzy yelled sarcastically as he started to head back towards the Nemisis._

"_Well, you have fun sulking, I'm going to keep on playin' with my new toy!" Rumble shouted as he flicked on the switch again._

_But before he could choose a person to become, however, a laser bullet nailed him in the waistplate, causing him to be launched into a pile of nearby energon._

"_RUMBLE!" Frenzy yelled, running over with his servo transformed into a blaster, firing at the group of Autobots firing on them._

"_You alright?" he asked when he reached his fallen brother, "I'm fine, my projector got hit though," Rumble replied, and as they started to run away, a stray bolt hit the huge pile of energon that Rumble and Frenzy had been by, causing it to explode and throw them a good mile or two away._

_As a matter of fact, the explosion was so huge it was a wonder as to how the people in the nearby town didn't see it._

_It was even more astonishing that no one heard the almighty thud of Rumble landing a yard or so away from the house of the Esquival's, who must not have been home._

_Rumble lay on the grassy field in front of the town, body completely battered and shattered. His hologram projector had somehow ended up inside of his CPU, probably from being ejected from his torn up waistplates and embedding itself in his processor, if the giant hole in his helm was anything to go by._

_Since Rumble was so badly damaged and his distress beacon was failing him, all he could do was wait and hope that help arrived quickly._

_Rumble turned what he could of his battered helm to the Esquival's house, as he had heard the sound of an automobile coming by._

_It turned out that the Esquival's had not been home, since their SUV just turned into the driveway of their home._

_Rumble hadn't really paid them much mind as the family of 7 got out of the truck, but he did when his HUD started to flash weird things in his processor. His optics widening in horror, Rumble realized that the hologram projector had started to attempt to scan the people._

_This wouldn't normally be a problem, except for the fact that the projector was embedded __**inside his processor**__, which was not good at all._

_Rumble desperately tried to shut down the device, but it was to no avail. The hologram projector scanned what appeared to be the mother and father of the group, and as it took the DNA samples and combined them to create an all new being, it took Rumble's mind with it as well…_

"…And then when we came across your body, we had thought you offlined, but we took you to Knockout and he said that you were alive, albeit barely, but that your CPU had just vanished," the red and black 'con (whom Raf now knew was Frenzy) finished and Soundwave nodded his helm in conformation.

After Raf had processed this information he asked Frenzy, "But if what you said is true, how come I don't remember a thing about that or a life before that?"

"Your memories might were scrambled by the damage to your processor, which stored them into a single file in your Cybertronian CPU, and that file must not have been taken with the rest of your mind."

Gulping down the fact that all of this could possibly be correct, Raf asked another question, "Well, where's my Cybertronian body then?"

"Right over here!" Frenzy stated enthusiastically, pointing over to a slab of metal on which lay a purple mech's body; it had been hidden from Raf's eyes in the dark confines of the room.

Racking his brain for a question that would stump their quest on him being their lost relative, Raf finally asked, "What exactly makes you think that I'm your brother when there are so many other humans on the earth?"

"We've been watching you during our battles with the Auto-dogs, and we found out that you were able to communicate and understand that Bumblebee clearly, who doesn't speak any language native to earth. We also discovered that you were able to kick the infamous Soundwave out of the satellite array in the place you call Texas, which gave us the idea that you were not a normal human. And before you ask, 'but I thought I lost all of my memories?' know that it is possible that the files for spoken Cybertronian and Soundwave's superior hacking skills were more than likely transmitted to your new form as well. Now, any more questions?" Frenzy asked, holding his servos behind his back.

When Raf finally put all of the pieces together; the ability to understand Bumblebee while the others could not; being probably one of the best human hackers for his age in the world, his mind became overwhelmed and he passed out again on the desk.

"Apparently, withstanding shock was not one of the traits that the projector installed into his new body," Frenzy commented to Soundwave as he took the now unconscious Raf and moved him over by the table with his original body…

…...

Back at the Autobot's base, Bumblebee was restless as Ratchet searched for any possible whereabouts of the Decepticon warship.

"Still no sign of it," Ratchet said as banged his fists on the table.

In frustration, Bumblebee punched the wall, leaving a dent so large it would make Breakdown proud. _"Keep looking, Ratchet! We must find Raf, no matter what it takes!" _Bumblebee exclaimed, and Bulkhead looked at his friend in shock; he had never seen 'Bee get that angry before.

In order to prevent Bumblebee from doing anything he might regret, Optimus said, "Calm down, Bumblebee, rest assured Rafael will be found; if we cannot come to Megatron, then he will come to us..."

…...

Back in Soundwave and Frenzy's quarters, Raf re-awakened again, this time strapped in a human size chair with wires attached to his head.

At first Raf was puzzled, but after he thought about it for a few minutes, his eyes widened in absolute horror and he started squirming to try and loosen the bonds. 'They're going to try and do one of those brain-swap operations from sci-fi movies!' he thought, which made him struggle even more against his bonds to no avail.

Giving up to exhaustion, Raf slumped in the chair, but he whipped his head up faster than the speed of light when the door to Soundwave and company's quarters opened up, and Soundwave walked in with a datapad in his servo.

When he reached Raf, Soundwave handed the datapad to Frenzy, and he set to work tinkering with the wires attached to Raf's head.

When he was through, he flipped a switch on the weird device, and Raf soon felt as though he has turned into a spirit that left its body and possessed another. A spirit that had been shrunk down to microscopic size and sent through space and time, that is.

Memories of times in his old body came flooding back to him.

Memories of being a sparkling and playing with his twin brother while their mother, Rotary Blades, was watching filled his mind. He remembered the times when he would play with Ravage and Lazorbeak when Soundwave was not home. Soundwave. Raf supposed he shouldn't call Soundwave by his name anymore, since it is considered disrespectful to call your father by his name.

Many more memories came flooding by from times as a youngling in the Decepticon army.

Training to be a spy; Lazorbeak and Soundwave asking Shockwave if they can merge; Megatron threatening them when they failed a mission; all of these and many more came pouring through his enlightened mind.

And then there was the one that Frenzy had just told him about; the one where he became Rafael Esquival.

As he was watching the memory, he audibly gasped as noticed something that Frenzy hadn't told him.

The Autobot that was shooting at him…was _Bumblebee. _Raf couldn't believe it. Bumblebee had been shooting at _him_, his _best friend_? 'No,' Raf chastised himself, 'We weren't friends then; he would never even think about shooting me, even as a Decepticon…would he?'

That thought brought up another series of questions.

What if Bumblebee found out that his friend was a Decepticon? What if he had to shoot him in the battlefield? What if he never even got to see Bumblebee again?

Raf temporarily put these thoughts aside as the memory lane slide show came to a halt.

'That must be all of my memories, now I'm 'going home' so to speak,' Raf thought, and he wasn't wrong, for soon a bright light engulfed him.

When he opened his eyes, Raf noticed a few things that seemed to be wrong with him.

First, he didn't have eyes anymore, he had optics. Next was that his face seemed to light up with all of these system check things, and even though he had all of his memories back, he was still too traumatized from today to remember how to shut them down.

"Uhhh, how do these messages off of my face?" Ra- sorry, _Rumble_ asked.

Frenzy laughed as Soundwave reached behind Ra-_Rumble's _helm and did something that made the messages go away.

"Thanks," Rumble said, and he swung his legs over the table and plopped onto the floor.

His head had cleared up a little bit, and he was able to remember how to use basic motor functions and the like, so he able to easily walk over to Soundwave and stand next to him.

"Soooooo…." Rumble said as he sheepishly rubbed his helm; he was still quite used to being human, and he wasn't sure what to say or if he should say anything.

His question was answered when Megatron's voice sounded throughout the ship, "Decepticons! The Autobots have been spotted near our energon mines! Commanding officer's report to the bridge immediately!"

Soundwave gave Rumble and Frenzy a 'come on' motion with his servo, and while Frenzy was quick to obey, Rumble was not.

"Come on Rumble! We're gonna kick some Auto-scum tailpipe!" Frenzy exclaimed joyfully, and Rumble had one of the quickest internal battles in history.

'I can't go; I won't be able to hurt my friends. Maybe I could talk to them though,' with that thought Rumble headed with the others to the bridge, trying to appear calm.

When they all got to the bridge, Rumble and Frenzy went completely unnoticed by everyone else, since Soundwave had always told them to keep quiet when the officers were called.

'Thank goodness for that,' Rumble thought; he wasn't too keen on talking to the other Decepticons yet.

A ground bridge portal opened up, and Rumble saw his opportunity to talk to 'Bee, so he ran through the portal after everyone except for Soundwave and Frenzy had gone.

"So bro, why don't we…uhhh, Rumble? Dad, where's Rumble?" Frenzy asked, and then he widened his optics as he realized something.

"He went through the ground bridge, didn't he?"

…...

"Megatron should be here any minute now," Bulkhead said as he transformed his wrecking ball back into his servo.

"Indeed, Bulkhead, and when he arrives, we shall demand that he release Rafael," Optimus said, and at that moment, Arcee and Bubmblebee roared on up to the others.

"We got the 'cons on the run; Megatron'll have to come if he wants his precious mines in tact," Arcee reported, and 'Bee gave an affirming trill.

Optimus nodded his helm, and as expected, a ground bridge portal opened, and out stepped Knockout, Breakdown, and Megatron, preparing their weapons should the Autobots attempt an attack.

"Optimus, how nice to see that you're so low on energon that you must raid my mines to scavenge from my supply," Megatron stated, to which Optimus replied, "We are not here for energon, Megatron, but for something that you stole from us."

Raising an optic ridge, Megatron questioned, "And what could we have possibly taken from you that is of value?"

"Rafael; deliver him to us and we shall leave you in peace," Optimus said, aiming his gun straight at Megatron.

"Rafael? Isn't he your bug's human pet? I do not have that pest, if I did, rest assured I would have bargained him," Megatron answered, and Optimus could tell that Megatron was not lying, for he would indeed use Raf as a bargaining chip.

So then where was he? M.E.C.H. didn't have him; they would always announce who they captured in order to lure an Autobot to them. So if Megatron didn't have him, who did?

"We saw Lazorbeak kidnap Raf at an event the children had, so you must know where he is," Optimus demanded, and Megatron said to himself out loud, "Soundwave? He never told me that he captured a human boy? Something is not right here…"

At that instant, the sound of rocks falling came from the left, and all optics turned toward the noise.

Rumble had been able to sneak by so far, but when he accidentally gripped the side of the mountain wall too hard, he crushed it a little and the pebbles made a quiet yet noticeable noise, and he soon darted toward cover as much as he could, which wasn't far since he lost his footing and went rolling as Megatron shot his cannon at him.

When everyone (bots and cons alike) came over to him, Megatron instantly exclaimed, "Rumble? How did your CPU become restored?"

"S…Soundwave," Rumble stuttered, not wanting to get his dad in trouble, but not wanting to anger Megatron either.

"How was he able to accomplish such a feat? Your mind was long gone; I checked it myself," Knockout commented from amongst the group.

"It doesn't matter; all that matters now is that we put these Autobots in their place," Megatron hissed, and he shot his cannon at the nearest Autobot, which happened to be Bumblebee.

He went down with a thud, and all the Autobots started to pound on the Decepticons from pure rage.

Staring in utter horror at a dying Bumblebee, Rumble ran over as fast as he could, and knelt down beside his friend, not knowing what to do.

"_Rum..ble? What…are…you do…ing? _Bumblebee coughed, and Rumble replied, "I'm not Rumble, I'm Raf! Well…sorta, I'll tell you later, right now I'm going to call Ratchet, you just hang on," Rumble said and he accessed his comm. and contacted Ratchet. "Ratchet! Give us an emergency ground-bridge, 'Bee is injured badly!"

"Who is this?" Ratchet asked, and seeing no time to explain at that moment, Rumble said, "It's me, Raf! Now open up the bridge!" Rumble said as he cut off the comm. and saw Ratchet get through the ground bridge.

Not even seeing Rumble, Ratchet picked up Bumblebee and ran back through the portal, the others not far behind.

Everyone was huddled at the repair bay until Ratchet kicked them out, telling them that 'Bee would live and that he needed room to work.

So it was then that everyone finally noticed Rumble, and they got their blasters back out and aimed them at him.

"Rumble! What are you doing here you pest?" Bulkhead exclaimed, and Rumble quickly told him, "I'm Raf!"

"No you're not, Raf is _human_, you Decepticreep, are not," Miko said from over by the human's lounge.

"Let me explain…" Rumble started, and he proceeded to tell them everything he knew about what happened to him all those years ago.

When he was through, everybody had put their blasters up, but they were still wary about Raf-Rumble.

Optimus had been listening to the conversation as well, and as Rumble had finished, he saw the torn look in his optics. The one that shows that you cannot pick a side, because your spark is split to both teams.

So Optimus got down to Rumble's level and said to him, "Rumble, I can see that you are unclear in which side to choose now that you have friends and family on both; is there something you would like to ask?"

Sighing, Rumble began, "Optimus, when I was a sparkling, my parents always told me that the Autobots were the bad guys, that they were the ones who killed my mother's friend, and that they were the ones that killed my mother…"

When the bots heard this, Arcee asked, "What do you mean 'killed your mother?'"

Rumble answered, "I mean, when Frenzy and I were playing outside with Ravage and Lazorbeak, some Autobot drones came out of nowhere and started to bomb our town."

"Where'd you live?" Bulkhead asked, and Rumble answered, "Kaon, why?"

"Well for starters, the Autobots never have and never will have drones for soldiers. Second, there has been no recorded incident of a bombing in Kaon, was there?" Bulkhead asked Optimus, who gravely shook his helm.

"Rumble, I believe Megatron was the one who bombed your home and killed those you loved," Optimus told him, and Rumble was shocked, "What? kBut why would he do that? Dad served him loyally…"

"Megatron has been known to blame attacks on Decepticons and Neutrals alike on the Autobots, in order to confirm his status as their leader," Optimus told him, and since Rumble had known the Autobots for a while as Raf, he believed him.

"Optimus, I have to tell my dad this; he was majorly affected by the loss of my mom, and that was what made him become a loyal Decepticon, it could also change the tide of the war if he finds out the truth and becomes an Autobot," Rumble said and Optimus Prime nodded his helm in acknowledgement.

Rumble would soon have justice for the death of his mother, and the tides of the war just might change drastically…

**(1) Minus all of you fangirls who would die from happiness, of course ;P**

**(2) In the series, it says that Megatron was gone for three years. I think that they may have been on earth longer, and since Raf is twelve (and a quarter :P ) I decided to have them on earth for twelve years…**

**A/N: Did you guys love this one? I had so much fun writing it! Anyway let me know what you thought!**

**Starburst**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I am sooo sorry this took so long. Dad made us go through an electronic deprivation for 5 days, and I haven't been able to get any of my stories done. DX I have also had some writer's block, and this may not be that good, but we'll see Enjoy!**

Since the Autobots didn't know the exact coordinates to the Decepticon warship, they decided to bridge Rumble to a secluded area of Jasper so that he could contact Soundwave via private commlink, so as to not arouse suspicion among the other Decepticons of Rumble's whereabouts.

Rumble had waited for less than a click by a nearby mountainside before Soundwave, Frenzy, and a deployed Lazorbeak emerged from the swirling green vortex of the Decepticon's ground-bridge.

It took even less than that for Frenzy to run up and embrace him in a tackle hug, muttering something about 'losing him to the Autobot filth.'

Rumble tried in vain to shove his brother off of him, so he instead waited for Frenzy to calm down before he tried to get up again. To Rumble's dismay, Frenzy continued to hold onto him like a cyber-parasite, and it was only with Soundwave's intervention that Frenzy released (albeit grudgingly) him and stepped back so Soundwave could get up closer to Rumble in order to talk with him.

Soundwave asked why Rumble had said that it was urgent to meet privately by means of recorded video snippets, and Rumble answered him by telling him about the real means behind his mother's (Rotary Blades) death, and everyone present listened with rapt attention.

"Those Autobums have been tellin' you lies, bro; you and I both saw those drones with Autobot insignias attacking home," Frenzy stated, and Rumble countered, "Yes, I saw the insignias, but think about it, since when do the Autobots ever have drones in their ranks?" "Well…just because we ain't seen 'em before doesn't mean they weren't specially designed to attack us!" Rumble nodded in understanding, but he still had another proposition, "Perhaps, but I've been with the Autobots for awhile now, and they don't appear to enjoy attacking unimportant villages, Cybertronian or otherwise."

Frenzy seemed to consider this for a moment, but before he could speak again, Soundwave asked, "_How ya know the' ain't lyin' to ya?" _ "As I told Frenzy, I've been with them for awhile, and I know for a fact that Optimus Prime doesn't lie; I can see the truth in his optics."

Soundwave didn't move or 'speak' for a few moments; he was probably trying to process all of the information his son had given him, and he found his spark torn in two directions. One side still earned to be with the Decepticons; he was ever loyal to Megatron, but if what Rumble said was true, then that meant that Megatron would have killed Rotary Blades, but he wouldn't do that. He had wanted to restore Cybertron to its former glory, not kill all of its inhabitants who didn't want anything to do with the war…right?

But then, quite unexpectedly, something Megatron told him eons ago brought itself forth from the far reaches of his processor, "_Hesitate to disobey me again, and there will be far greater consequences next time…"_

His instinctive thought was that he learnt his lesson, but as he dwelt on it more, he remembered that after Megatron had sliced his vocalizer, he had started to obey him a bit more reluctantly.

No one saw it, but his optics widened immensely as he put two-and-two together. He started to become more defiant; Megatron punished defiance; the death of his sparkmate brought him into his _unquestionable allegiance of Megatron;_ and now he realized that it must have been a set up.

Megatron probably ordered Shockwave to create drones that would appear to be Autobots in order to take away the only thing that Soundwave held dear in his life…his family.

Soundwave was soon overcome with strong emotion, and as he rose with his servos clenched into raging fists, he played on his recorder, "_I'm in…when do we start?"_

…

Back at the Autobot base, everyone had gathered into the general area to talk about the events currently taking place.

"I can't believe Raf is one of you guys…well…Cybertronian, anyway," Jack said, and Miko nodded in agreement.

"I believe that since Rumble in the form of Raf has been with us and learnt about us, he could convince Soundwave to join our side…they would make valuable allies," Optimus Prime noted, and Bulkhead asked him, "What if they refuse? Rumble knows the location of our base, and if he stays with the Decepticons…" "I am quite certain that Rumble has seen the light, and his spark is now attached to us; it would be difficult for him to betray us willingly."

The base returned to silence after this, until Jack brought up a question that the Autobot leader hadn't considered before. "What are we going to tell Raf's family; they will start to wonder where he is?"

"I hadn't considered that; I shall see what Agent Fowler recommends," Optimus reassured him, and just then Ratchet said, "Optimus, we have a request from Rumble to prepare a ground bridge; shall I oblige?"

"Yes," he answered to Ratchet, then turned to inform everyone else, "Even though Rumble was our friend and ally as a human, he may be bringing his twin, Frenzy, and his father, Soundwave; they may not be as acceptant of us, but we must treat them without prejudice."

"But, Optimus, why should we treat them as you guys; they're Decepticons, and they never bothered to treat you well?" Miko asked, and Optimus replied to her, "Perhaps, but if we treated them poorly, we would be no better than them." As he finished, he heard the signature 'swoosh' of someone passing through the ground-bridge, and as he turned he almost stepped back in surprise due to Soundwave being right on top of him.

'He always was quiet,' he mused to himself as Soundwave tilted his helm slightly downward in a submissive gesture, signaling that he meant no harm, and Optimus greeted, "Welcome, Soundwave and Frenzy to our base. I trust that you heard what Rumble had to say about us, and about what Megatron did all those solar cycles ago?" Soundwave nodded his helm in response, as did Frenzy, who was glancing around the base with a slightly distrustful manner.

"Good; before I go into our rules and regulations, allow me to introduce you to my team, and our human allies," he nodded his helm towards Ratchet, "This is our Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet," he now turned to the 'Bots and humans by the couch area, "This is my scout, Bumblebee; the former Wrecker, Bulkhead; Arcee, who is my Second-in-Command, and their human charges, Jack and Miko," the afore mentioned names all greeted them in their own special way. 'Bee with energetic beeps; Arcee with a 'hmph,' Bulkhead and Miko with somewhat confused scowls, and Jack with a nervous yet polite wave of his hand.

"Now that you know who I have on my team, I would like to speak to you, Soundwave, privately; if that is fine with you, of course," Optimus asked, and Soundwave looked toward Rumble, seemingly asking, 'he won't do anything suspicious, will he?' and Rumble gave him an enthusiastic nod along with a shooing gesture in response, to which Soundwave acknowledged with a nod toward Rumble and Optimus, and proceeded to follow him toward a secluded section of the base.

Now that Rumble and Frenzy were alone with the Autobots, Rumble thought it would be a good time for Frenzy to get to know the others. "Come on, bro; let me give you a full intro to 'Bee; he's awesome," he said, but Frenzy was somewhat reluctant to get that close to the Autobot.

In the end, though, he gave in and went over with his brother to the yellow scout, and Rumble was giving Bumblebee a background story of his brother. "He's the best, 'Bee, and he's not like the other 'Cons; we honestly never were," he was saying.

Bumblebee gave a wave to Frenzy, and he returned it somewhat sheepishly; he wasn't quite sure how to be nice to someone. Sure, they never got into fights with any of the other 'Cons -physically, at least- but they never got to get a good example of a friendship that didn't involve punching, hitting, cursing and the like, so he wasn't sure what to do.

Thankfully, when Rumble had been Raf, he had learnt a thing or two about friendship, so he helped his brother along, and, soon enough, he and Bumblebee were having a hyped conversation about nothing in particular.

Glad to see his brother starting to warm up to the Autobot way of life (and the actual Autobots), Rumble decided to head over to his human friends by the couch.

As he suspected, Miko immediately spewed a barrage of questions at him, "How come you never told us that you were a Cybertronian; how does it feel being a 'Con; did your other body just disappear; how did you…"

"Woah, woah, woah, Miko; one question at a time! And in answer to your first few; I lost most of my memory when I turned human; it doesn't feel that bad being a 'Con, although now that I've seen them from different eyes, I think differently; and yah, my other body was a really high-tech hologram, so when everything was back to normal, it just disappeared; anything else?" he asked, and Miko continued to pound him with question after question until Jack shushed her.

"I have a question now," he said, and Rumble turned to give him his full attention, "One, do you think Soundwave and Frenzy – that's his name, right?- are going to join the Autobots, and two, have any ideas on how to tell your human family that you're not really…you know…" he trailed off, and Rumble exhaled his intakes in a sigh and answered, "I honestly think they are going to, but I'm not sure; and, I honestly didn't even think about what my human parents are going to do; they'll be so sad…"

There was silence after this for awhile, until Soundwave and Optimus returned into the main hanger.

"I have good news," Optimus announced, and everyone turned their attention toward him, "Soundwave has agreed to join our cause, and he will soon become an honorary Autobot!" this was met by some cheers from Bumblebee, who seemed to be the most enthusiastic about it.

Arcee, on the other hand, was dumbstruck, and made certain that Optimus understood her worries. "He is a spy, after all; how do you know this wasn't set up by Megatron?" she asked him in a whisper, and Optimus told her, "During our discussion, Soundwave told me that it was Rumble who convinced him that he should join the Autobots, and I know for a fact that Soundwave treasures his family far more than being loyal to Megatron."

Arcee still wasn't entirely convinced, but she let it go for now, instead announcing that she was going on patrol.

While she was gone, the others started having casual conversations with the soon-to-be new members; and even Ratchet threw a few words in every now and then.

This peaceful chatter was broken when the proximity alarm sounded, signaling that Agent Fowler had arrived unannounced for some reason.

"Agent Fowler, what brings you here?" Optimus greeted the middle aged African-American, and Fowler replied with a snobby, "And what do you think, Prime? I'm here 'cause the boys at the Pentagon are starting to worry that the 'Cons are planning something big; they haven't been active for awhile and…who's this?" he ceased talking and turned to observe the newcomers.

"This is Soundwave, Frenzy, and Rumble; they…" Prime started, and Fowler interrupted, "Soundwave? He's one of those 'Cons; what is he doing here?"

In order to calm the panicking government agent, Optimus explained, "They have defected from the Decepticons, and they are not a threat; Rumble and Frenzy are his sons, they are soon to be a part of our team."

This seemed to calm Fowler down a smidge, and his eyes wandered over to the human's area, which he noticed was lacking a certain member of the gang. "Where's the genius at? Sick or somethin'?" he asked, noticing that his guardian Bumblebee was here without him, and they were almost inseperable.

Everyone seemed to shift uncomfortably at that, and, seeing no reason to keep the truth from him, Optimus said, "There was an…incident that may be too complicated for you to understand." Fowler gave him a look that said 'I can handle it,' so he continued, "It turns out that Rafael was never a human, more like an extremely realistic hologram from a highly advanced hologram projector. He was originally a Cybertronian Decepticon, but after being with us for some time and getting to know us more personally, when he was returned to his original form, he turned his family toward the Autobot's side; the one I speak of is Rumble."

Fowler was stunned by this; he had originally thought that they were going to say he had been injured by the Decepticons or something; not that he _was_ a Decepticon turned Autobot. "Has anyone informed the Esquivals of Raf's 'disappearence,' or are they sending cops all over to hunt him down?"

"Well, right now, we're supposed to be at the beach, so they don't know that he's not…all there anymore," Jack stated, and Rumble had turned to Soundwave to quietly ask, "Do you think that maybe I could…you know…be Raf during the day and Rumble at night, or something like that; even though I remember you and Frenzy and everyone, I have kinda gotten attached to my human family…" Seeing the downcast look of his son's features, Soundwave considered this for a few clicks, and then, to Rumble's surprise, he nodded his acceptance of the idea.

"_Just be back before dark," _he said, and Rumble rushed up to the railing where Fowler was and told both him and Optimus his idea.

"Well thought out Rumble; is there anything else you wished to discuss, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked, and Fowler replied with a shake of his head; he gave the occupants of the room a professional farewell, then headed back up the elevator toward his helicopter.

"Well, now that all of this is settled, why don't we head back to the beach? We've still got a few days left," Rumble suggested, and the others who had previously went with him whooped and hollered in agreement.

Just then, a comm. came in from Arcee, "…cee to ba…I rep…is anyone there?" the commlink connection was staticky, and Arcee sounded as though she was I a tough spot. "We read you, what's your status?" Ratchet asked from by the monitors, and the garbled reply came, "…'Cons…attacking….need…ck up, can't…..much longer….I OOMF!" "Arcee! ARCEE! Scrap, we lost the connection!" Ratchet exclaimed, slamming his fist onto the keyboard in fury.

"Autobots, Arcee is in trouble; Soundwave, you and your sons will stay here with Ratchet; we don't want Megatron knowing of your defection just yet; Autobots, roll out!" Optimus exclaimed as the ground-bridge vortex swirled open, and the Autobots were off to assist their comrade.

"I hope she's ok," Jack said, and Rumble replied, "Don't worry Jack, this is Arcee we're talking about, she's tough enough to handle them."

'At least, I hope…"

…

**A/N: Cliffhanger! What will happen to Arcee? Find out next time! ;)**

**Again, sorry this took so long to get up, writer's block+ no computer+ no time= late updates :/**

**Oh well, some great news is that I found an incredibly awesome Transformers Prime Season 2 Trailer! I don't know if a lot of people have seen it, but if you haven't, type in 'Wikipedia List of Transformers Prime Episodes,' and you're your on that site, scroll all the way down, click 'the EXCLUSIVE Transformers Prime Orion Pax part 1 trailer' and be amazed :P**

**Seriously though, if you have a problem with patience, I wouldn't suggest watching it until about a few days away from the premier. I just watched it, and for the first 3 MONTHS I was moderately patient (I only had that –totally-not-awesome-compared-to-this-trailer of Orion getting a D-con tattoo (lol), so I wasn't so hyped I would die if it didn't come on right that instant), but NOW, I CAN'T WAIT TWO MORE WEEKS, IT IS THAT AWESOME! :DDDDD THIS IS TORTURE DDDD:**

**Oh, and if you are reading my other story 'Witwicky Legacy,' I'm gonna have a poll about who the boy's guardians should be.**

**Til next time!**

**Starburst**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Imma back! Soooo sorry that it has taken me this long to get this up; I hate writer's block, don't you? I've noticed that I have a bad habit of writing just the first chapter of multi-chap fics and then moving on to a different bunny. Well, I intend to change that; I don't like to keep my lovely readers waiting. ;) Oh, and any time segments you see in here are based off of Animated's time segmensts; they were easiest to remember. **

Arcee was not happy.

Ok, so this in itself was nothing new, but the reason for her ire was quite interesting.

Back at the base, Optimus had agreed to allow Soundwave – probably Megatron's #1 'Con for _eons_- and his little brats to _join the Autobots_. Now, Arcee respected Prime to no end, and she knew that he made decisions that would benefit their cause, but there were some decisions he made that she really wondered how they could possibly be a benefit to anyone except Megatron and the Deceptiocons.

I mean come on, Soundwave isn't called the 'most profound intelligence gatherer in the entire history of Cybertron' for nothing; and he's on the opposite side of the playing field!

She revved her engine in annoyance as she sped through the abandoned side roads of Jasper. She had told Optimus she was going on patrol, but the real reason she was out was to think about the big bot's choice.

At first thought, she didn't think it was a good one.

Then she thought about the whole Raf-turning-into-Rumble situation. How could they know if that really was Raf? What if they had captured Raf on board their ship and were pretending that Raf was Rumble?

Even though the story he told seemed pretty plausible, she wasn't going to buy it just yet. She'd watch them closely first, and if they made one possible indication that they were still with the Decepticons, she would make sure that they regretted ever stepping a ped through their ground bridge.

…...

"Knockout!" Megatron's voice reverberated throughout the bridge of the _Nemesis, _"Why hasn't Soundwave been located?"

Megatron was extremely angry, that much Knockout could tell, but what he couldn't tell was where their creeper spy-bot had disappeared too, and Megatron didn't like 'I-don't-know' answers.

"We have not been able to locate him, my lord, but we have an idea as to where he went," Knockout replied from a safe distance away from the angered tyrant.

"Oh? Well then tell me!" he demanded, and Knockout was quick to oblige him, "The last known coordinates of Soundwave are here," he pointed to the Cybertronian numbers on the screen.

Megatron turned toward the monitor and gave a low hum of his engines in thought.

"Send a squadron of Vehicons to scout the area; I want Soundwave back at his post before the next orbital cycle."

"As you wish, my lord," Knockout bowed himself out, and headed to do what his lord instructed.

…...

Arcee had been pondering the recent events at the base when all of a sudden the roar of multiple jet engines filled her audio receptors.

Thinking quickly, she transformed with her blasters out and aimed, ready for a fight. But to her surprise, the drones just continued past as though they hadn't seen her, or as though they had been given orders by Megatron, which they had to fulfill.

The latter being more likely, she transformed back into her vehicle mode and sped off in the direction they had been heading, which just so happened to be the location where they had met Soundwave for negotiations.

As they started scouting the area, Arcee transformed and crept forward to try and get a closer look, but as luck would have it, a couple of loose rocks gave way from under her peds, compromising her position.

"Scrap," she muttered, and soon she had a barrage of laser fire coming towards her.

She skillfully dodged the blasts, and took out a 'Con with one of her wrist swords.

"Arcee to base!" when she didn't get a reply, she said again, "Arcee to base! I repeat, is anyone there?"

"We read you…." Ratchet had answered her call, but it was very staticky; they must have been scrambling her signal.

"The 'Cons are attacking! I need back up; I…OOMF!" one of the Vehicons knocked her over, and she lost all connections with the base.

'Well,' she thought to herself as she started to slice and shoot at the Vehicons, 'Looks like I'm on my own for now.'

…...

She had been able to hold her own for a while, and had almost taken down all of the drones, but then another batch had arrived as she was fighting the last one from the first squad.

Seeing its new allies, the drone she was fighting found its vigor renewed, and successfully knocked her to the ground.

Her strength depleted, Arcee struggled to stand up, and as she got onto her servos and knee-joints, she found herself becoming reacquainted with the hard dirt that made up the ground due to the kick the drone dealt to her back.

Just Arcee was starting to think how horrible it would be to end like this, she heard a roar of engines that seemed as though it was louder than the when the squadrons of Vehicons flew to her.

'Probably the 'Cons warship,' she thought, but a sudden barrage of laser fire and missiles assaulting the Vehicons put that theory to rest. Plus the big, red sigil of the Autobots on the side of the ship contributed to that thought.

Just as the last of the 'Cons were destroyed , the ship landed near Arcee's postion.

It wasn't as big as the _Nemesis,_ but it wasn't as small as Wheeljack's either, so who could it be? She didn't have time to figure out as she slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.

**A/N: Again with the cliffhanger! Boy, I sure like making people fant, don't I? This was kinda short, but now I need ya'll to tell me which bots you'd like to see! I already have an idea of who I'm bringing, but I'd like to hear your wants too!** **You can tell me by PM or review!**

**Starburst**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well, it has been a while hasn't it? Goodness, it's been over a month O.O! I think I may have finally come out of this accursed writer's block *shouts for joy*. Now all I need is more time to write fics -_-" But for the time being, enjoy this little piece….**

With a soft 'thud', the cruiser that had saved Arcee's life landed on the rocky ground, and the sound of pressurized hydraulics being released filled the air as the ramp of the ship was lowered.

Two figures emerged from the ship, and as soon as the steam cleared, the harsh sunlight glinted off of their highly polished armor.

"Are you positive this is where their last set of known coordinates located? Because there does not appear to be here," an emotionless voice stated.

"Yes, Prowl, I am 100% sure these were their last known coordinates, now would ya please stop questioning my awesome tracking skills and let the others know we've hit land?" a moderately tall Autobot with a red and orange paint-job asked.

"But, the _Axalon_ has already landed on this planet, Blaster? The slight force in resistance from setting down on the surface of this planet was quite-"

With a roll of his optics, Blaster interrupted Prowl, saying, "I meant would ya go tell the others that we are on the right track, and in case ya don't know what that means, would you please go tell them that we have found the location of Optimus Prime?"

"Oh," Prowl's ice blue optics seemed to brighten, and his doorwings pricked a little in comprehension, "But he is not-"

"Just…go. I am the communications officer for a reason, Prowl; I'll contact the bots of this planet, and then we'll be able to kick Decepti-butt, ok?"

"Understood," Prowl acknowledged then headed back up into the _Axalon_ to alert the others of their findings.

…...

As soon as Prowl re-entered the Autobot's spaceship, Blaster began trying to locate the correct frequency of the Autobot base of the planet they were currently on.

From some site called "The World Wide Web," he had been able to access any bit of information he desired to learn about the planet and its inhabitants. He had enjoyed scrolling through different little websites when they had been in space (he especially enjoyed this one called 'Youtube,') to help pass some of the boredom that comes with being in space for…well, ever. Being stuck with Prowl was no fun either, except when you were messing with him when he was working on reports (it was still a mystery to the crew as to why he even bothered when they had been sure Optimus was gone).

But right now, he wasn't watching stupidly hilarious videos on Youtube, or looking up the deepest points of the ocean on Wikipedia. Right now, he was scanning every possible frequency within his databanks in order to contact the supposed base on Earth.

He had first discovered that Autobots were stationed on Earth by sheer accident one day (or night, one could never tell the difference in the eternal darkness of space) when he was randomly checking different frequencies on the ship's comm. system. He had been searching for signs of any possible Autobot strongholds that could harbor a few more stowaways. He hadn't expected to find anything, so it was to his great surprise when a burst of something other than static came across the system. The message was a bit garbled, but of what he was able to make out, it was definitely coming from an Autobot. He had started instantly recording the message, and attempted to trace the signal.

He was not able to pinpoint an exact location, so he assumed that they had some sort of cloaking technology in place, which was clever, but unfortunate at the time.

So instead, he used the minimal knowledge he had of spark signatures to see if he could track down the Autobots by converting comm. frequency they used to the energy their spark would give out. He had really wished Perceptor was there, he always knew how to figure out stuff like this, but he was one of the few who opted to stay behind on Cybertron and rid it of the stench that was Shockwave.

After many failed attempts of finding the bots, Blaster had almost given up, but just as he was about to turn off the console and call it a day, the error messages that popped up so frequently he had almost memorized them, had turned into an 'access granted' sign, and Blaster almost whooped for joy.

Actually, he did, which was why Prowl had come over and demanded what all of the ruckus was about (contrary to popular belief, the logic-bot did enjoy his beauty-recharge…or meditation…whichever he felt like doing at the time), and Blaster gave him the report on what he found.

He could have sworn that he saw the strategist/ninja twitch his lip components into fraction of a smile, but it was gone in the blink of an optic.

So that was why they were here, on this planet, trying to find Optimus Prime like a turbo-puppy would its master.

They hadn't had much trouble landing, except for the Decepticon drones, which they quickly took care of.

Blaster kept walking, but stopped when something that looked like a space-bridge portal but infinitely smaller swirled to life from out of thin air in front of him. He had never seen anything like this before, and he was wary to go near the thing.

Backing up a few steps, he tripped over something that made a 'clang' noise when his ped made contact, so it had to be metal. Rubbing his helm as he sat up, he gasped as he noticed that what he had had tripped over wasn't a dead drone or a piece of scrap metal, but an unconscious Autobot!

Before he could do anything about it though, through the not-a-space-bridge-but-something-like-it stepped three Autobots with their plasma guns out and charged.

"You," stated the tallest of the group, which Blaster could've sworn was Optimus Prime, "State your designation and affiliation; Bumblebee, take Arcee back through the ground-bridge for repairs."

'So _that's_ what it's called,' Blaster thought absentmindedly, as the aforementioned Autobot was taken through the strange transport device by her comrade.

Coming back to the point at hand, however, Blaster got up off of the ground and answered the questions the other Autobot had asked, "I'm Blaster, an Autobot; I've been with my crew for a few solarcycles now; it's good to finally be able to meet you Optimus Prime, sir."

"How did you know who I am?" Optimus asked, and with a smirk, Blaster replied, "Every bot on the _Axalon _knows who you are; I bet every Autobot in the _galaxy_ knows, actually."

Transforming his gun back into a servo, Optimus stood at his full height, and asked Blaster if it was at all possible for them to move there ship.

With a puzzled expression, Blaster confirmed that it was possible, but expressed that he didn't understand why. Optimus explained that due to the natives of the planet being…unexceptant of the fact that an alien species lived among them, they had to remain as robots in disguise.

He sent Blaster on his way with the coordinates of their base (and to a location where they could hide their ship), then he and Bulkhead re-entered the ground-bridge and into the base.

…...

"Bubmlebee!" Rumble shouted as soon as his friend came back through the bridge, but he didn't say anything else as Bee rushed over to set Arcee on the waiting repair table that Ratchet had set up as soon as they got the urgent comm.

Before Bumblebee had even set her on the table, Ratchet had started scanning her for any serious injuries.

"Will she be alright?" asked Jack from the human's section, worry etched all over his features.

"She has sustained some damage, but nothing to serious; she will recover quickly," Ratchet assured the boy, and he set to work repairing what he could.

A short while later, Bulkhead and Optimus appeared through the ground-bridge, Bulkhead looking as though he had a secret he couldn't wait to share. Miko caught on to his suspicious look quickly, and demanded to know what he saw and what happened.

"Well Miko," he started with a chuckle, "Let's just say we might have some more recruits on the base."

"Woah, really?" she exclaimed in excitement, and even Jack looked a bit interested at the news.

"Who?" Jack asked, and Bulkhead gave a shrug, "Some guy named Blaster; I think he used to be an officer back on Cybertron…"

At the mention of Blaster, Soundwave startled everyone present by moving over swiftly to Bulkhead and invading his space.

"Woah…!" Bulkhead started, but before anyone would think Soundwave meant harm, Rumble explained, "He's just shocked to hear that Blaster's here; they used to be very good friends."

Every tense frame in the room relaxed, but Soundwave didn't move from where he stood, so Bulkhead was explaining to him that he was arriving with a few others to join the team.

Soundwave nodded his helm then retreated back into the corner of the base where he seemed to enjoy observing everyone.

…...

A few hours later, Arcee was back up on her peds, and has immediately inquired as to who had saved her back on the field. Optimus Prime filled her in, and she seemed surprised to hear that some new bots were coming to join them.

She was about to ask who they were, but Ratchet announced that a comm. coming from a ship known as the _Axalon _that requested permission for the ground-bridge to be opened.

Optimus nodded his affirmative, and every optic and eye turned toward the vortex that sprang to life, watching with bated breath as the newcomers entered.

As soon as everyone had passed through the ground-bridge, the base was filled with an added five members.

The first announced himself as Blaster, head Communications Officer of the Autobots. The kids noticed he a bit taller than the others, and that his red, orange, and yellow paintjob was a severe contrast to the others in the room.

That is, except for the only femme in the new group, Ashfire, who was also red and orange. She had doorwings upon her back, and her optics were unlike any the others had seen. While almost every other Autobot in the room had blue optics, hers were a dark orange, tinted with brown around the edges.

The only other doorwinger in the group introduced himself as Prowl, an expert strategist and Circuit-Su master of the Autobots. He was quite slender, but of an average height for a mech. His paint-job was white and black with tints of gold here and there, and he had a chevron bright red chevron (quite like Ratchet's) upon his forehelm.

Prowl was soon toppled off of balance from a spunky mech throwing his arm around his shoulders in a nonchalant way and waving to the others with his free servo. This mech was also black and white, with some dark blue splashed throughout different areas of him. This mech also had an electric blue visor covering his optics, something Miko and Jack had not seen before, so they were a bit entranced by it. The mech was known as Jazz, a Special Ops Autobot that was happy-go-lucky and fun to be around with his comrades, but accurate and deadly towards his enemies.

And last but not least, a burly black mech with red tinting and an impressive amount of firearms was about to introduce himself, but Bulkhead beat him to the punch, "Ironhide? No way; long time no see! Everyone, this is Ironhide, best Wrecker in the unit; Jackie and I couldn't take him down even if we got all the others to join in."

"You bet, and I'm still the best there is," he bragged, his deep voice reverberating throughout the room.

"Hey! What about us? We want a turn to meet everyone," a loud but young sounding voice said, and everyone turned to see four bots about the size of Rumble and Frenzy push their way through towards the front.

"Oh man, how could I have forgotten 'bout you. Everyone, these are my twin mechs, Eject and Rewind, and these are my trusty little cyber-pets, Steeljaw and Ramhorn."

The aforementioned bots all gave signs of greeting; for Eject and Rewind, it was a "Hey ya'll," and a "'Sup." For the lion and the rhino it was a series of grunts and growls.

As soon as all of the new members were done introducing themselves, Soundwave walked up with Rumble, Frenzy, and a deployed Lazorbeak to Blaster and his company.

"Soundwave!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

…...

"Lord Megatron, the squads you sent to locate Soundwave have not returned," an unlucky drone reported to Megatron.

"What?" he exclaimed, and the drone took a few steps back for fear of being hit.

"They faced resistance, my lord, from a new group of Autobots in the ship known as the _Axalon_."

"The _Axalon_?" Megatron repeated, and the drone nodded in conformation.

"The archives say that it was one of the last ships to evacuate Cybertron during the exodus, my lord," the drone offered, and Megatron turned to contemplate this news.

Suddenly, the ping of an incoming comm. filled the bridge, and Megatron turned toward the drone in Soundwave's usual post, and demanded to know who sent the signal.

"It is coming from the _Darksyde, _sir; shall I let it through?"

"Yes," Megatron said, and the drone pressed a button on the control panel that let the message through.

…...

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter done! Am I the only one that was really hoping to see Ironhide in "Loose Cannons"? I mean, it's cool and all that Wheeljack's back, but I really wanted Ironhide. So, I know most of you were expecting Blaster and Ashfire, which was partly correct. I knew from the beginning that I wanted Jazz and Ironhide in this; I was also considering Blurr in place of Prowl, but I thought Prowl would work better :P**

**And for clarification (in case you couldn't already tell), Blaster looks like his G1 counterpart; Prowl has the colors and most of the body of G1 Prowl, but he's as skinny as Animated Prowl (because he is going to be a ninja, 'cause they're awesome ;P) Jazz looks like G1, minus the 4, unless you find it necessary to imagine him like that, and Ironhide looks mostly like the Bayverse, because that Ironhide looks BEAST! **

**And Eject, Rewind, Steeljaw, and Ramhorn look like they do in G1.**

**And yah, I used a Beast Wars reference to the Axalon and the Darksyde.**

**On another note altogether, I am considering becoming a Beta-reader. I'm just not sure I would be good at it, but then again I might be. What do you think? If any of you are reading this and are Beta-reader's, I'd just like t oknow if you think I could help others write. **

**Until next time!**

**Starburst**

**Oh yah, and do you have any specific Decepticons you would like to see? I'm sorting through ideas in my head, but I like to hear what you guys want as well!**


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